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There is a Crack in Everything
von • by Felix J. Hermann Stumpf, Berlin

www.felixstumpf.de

The work, which was developed by the Berlin-based artist Felix

J. Hermann Stumpf especially for the AK2 Gallery in Stuttgart,

consists of large-format cyanotypes. White lines and fields are

combined to form space-like structures, with their geometric

precision forming a striking contrast to the almost picturesque

blue background. Thanks to their technical-constructive appear-

ance, the sheets remind the viewer of architectural drawings —

supported by the procedure itself: Until the 1930s, the technique

which is known as blueprint or cyanotype was used to repro-

duce building plans. A closer look at the graphics reveals mod-

ular structures. In fact, Stumpf used ornaments from the interior

and exterior of socialist modernist buildings in East Berlin as a

basis for his work. However, the strict configuration of the orig-
inal grid dissolves in favour of free, poetic structures. And on

closer inspection, the "spatial models" also elude the fixed reg-

ularities of architecture. The title Stumpf has chosen is: "There

is a Crack in Everything". Obviously, the text refers to the breaks

that characterize the artwork. But this is only half the story.

Anyone who knows the song "Anthem" by Leonard Cohen from

1992 knows how the lyrics go on: "That’s how the Light gets in.

" Obviously, the artist is not so much interested in the cracks

themselves. Rather, he seems to be interested in the light that

becomes perceptible through them. On a physical level, it is the

technique of cyanotypes that makes this possible. In the figura-

tive sense, threshold spaces are opened up in which utopias

can become reality. Winfried Stürzl