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Axel Luther |
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Born 1951 in Bayreuth I never took workshops or lessons in art. At the age of three or four I started to form out of tinfoil foil animals, Tinfoil is the predecessor of aluminium foil Born on a farm, animals were probably „the thing“. The main sources of stanniol were the wrappings inside the cigarette boxes. This is the only positive side of smoking I ever found. Drawing with a stick in the farm dust began at the same time. Very lively animals they said. Then my family left the farm and went to Nuremberg. No animals! I made a great zoo out of tinfoil. Thousands! I was a breeder of every animal I knew. I knew the books about animal life by heart. No child books! But I can’t remember one time in my childhood, working on a animal while I was looking at a picture. I got the material and started to work without hesitation. I never had to think about it, or to look it up. An animal whatever species took at the age of seven, about fife minutes, or less. While I was telling myself storys about them, they lived, multiplied and died. New species appeared, predators..... my world. At school, I was sketching through all lessons apart from art.Art teachers never taught me anything at school. My interest was on animals and my teachers new much less about this topic, than me at that time. In my opinion then, they had absolutely no talent, nothing to teach One remark of a art-teacher was: What a talent - wasted on me. Maybe a reflection of my opinion. This way I had to go on single handed. I read a lot of books about animals and various other scientific topics in my youth, but none about art. When aluminium foil became available the material shortages were ended. Before, I was probably the only kid in my town that preferred the wrapping to the chocolate. One Time in my school career, they tried to promote my talent. The school caretaker one of my aluminium foil (tin foil?) suppliers, told the rector about the wunderkind. (I paid with animals) A art teacher showed me alone one afternoon how to work with clay. I took a lump of the new material and in about three seconds I had the hind leg of a deer. No, no you have to do it this way the teacher started, and showed me how to make „worms“. Two afternoons were enough. It was boring slow and no fun at all. I made four legs of a rhino. In this time I would have populated a savannah with wildlife my style. I abolished it and never went to this teacher again. Thou he was a nice guy. Later I discovered many more convenient ways of clay handling, some of them are probably unique some are reinventions. I was certainly a very annoying pupil for my teachers, and so my flame was little diluted by outside influences. After six more years I had another strong go at this material, clay out of a building pit. I made a lot of funny animals lacquered them and sold them on a brokers row, unbaked, made my style. It never stopped for long, since then. My age was 18. to be continued.... |
