Theme
Through Austrian artist Christian Eisenberger we experience the daily pressures felt by artists to be unique and to live up to the expectations of others. We see how art is created, how the concept of art is extended beyond all limits, and what drives the art market. At the age of 40, the Austrian artist has created more than 45,000 works of art. Galleries, art fairs, and museums exhibit his art and set the prices. In order to challenge this system, the artist is not afraid to destroy his own work. With great pleasure he observes how art comes into being haphazardly, and how his exuberant creativity not only surprises his audience, but, foremost, himself.
Eisenberger's cardboard figures received attention early on in his career. He exhibited over 9,000 of these figures on streets and in public squares, where anyone could collect them. His land art installations are equally fascinating. Without an audience, Eisenberger creates fragile sculptures and pictures out of grasses, pine cones, smoke, or ice around his parents' farm in Semriach.
Eisenberger's work opens up a kaleidoscopic cosmos in which the passion of a bishop meets the curiosity of a factory worker, and in which the fanatism of his fans for collecting his work renders the criticism of curators irrelevant.
Art is just a label without any real relevance, says Christian Eisenberger. In the showdown between Eisenberger, his admirers and his critics, a realm that struggles for attention and recognition emerges. The interpretation of a work of art often seems more important than the work itself. In this kind of setting the artist can only exist if he consistently follows his own path.
