Die Orden der Nacht
Für Ingeborg Bachmann
Die Orden der Nacht (für Ingeborg Bachmann) (2018-2025) refers to the ensemble of sculptures known as the Women of Antiquity—a body of work that pays homage to female figures long overlooked in the annals of history. Kiefer grants presence and gravity to a figure who, though anonymous, bears attributes that gesture toward a possible identity. A sense of movement animates the work: it emerges in the folds of the dress, even as they are fixed in bronze. Resting upon the bust, an open steel sphere, with hints of gold and silver leaf, evokes both representations of Claudius Ptolemy’s cosmos and the ancient concept of Musica Universalis, in which the proportions governing the movements of celestial bodies—the sun, moon, and planets—are understood as a form of cosmic harmony. This contemplation of the cosmos brings to mind the poem An die Sonne (To the Sun), from which this sculpture takes its title, and in which Bachmann describes the sun as “more beautiful than the remarkable moon,” “more beautiful than the stars, the celebrated orders of the night,” for life depends on it. Kiefer also invokes the line “Without the sun, even art takes the veil again,” noting that when he puts a painting out in the rain, “it’s naturalized again” and “gains a secret”—one he must rediscover. He continues: “Ideally, in rediscovering that secret […] I create something still more concentrated.” In dedicating this sculpture to Ingeborg Bachmann, Kiefer affirms the depth of his longstanding appreciation for, and engagement with, the poet’s work.
Zit./vgl.:
- Ingeborg Bachmann, “To the Sun,” in Darkness Spoken: The Collected Poems, translated by Peter Filkins, Zephyr Press, 2006, p. 215
- Anselm Kiefer in Conversation with Klaus Dermutz, translated by Tess Lewis, Seagull Books, 2019, S. 177 Ibid.
- Ingeborg Bachmann, „An die Sonne,” in Darkness Spoken: The Collected Poems, Zephyr Press, 2006, S. 214
- Die Kunst geht knapp nicht unter. Im Gespräch mit Klaus Dermutz, Suhrkamp, 2010, S. 179
- ebda.
