MUTUAL 2023
In the performance, a face, which is covered with a dough-like mass, is repeatedly pressed against a reflecting surface. It kneads into the tough skin-colored mass, pulls out again and immediately plunges back into the sticky substance. New symmetrical shapes, tattered structures and diverse patterns are constantly emerging.
OVERSTRETCHED PORTRAIT 2021
The starting point for this work is a column-esque sculpture made of white plaster, at the end of which is a life-sized carved image of the artist's face. The elongated form out of which the portrait emerges represents an extended silhouette of a cross-section of the artist's head, and is as long as he is tall. At the opposite end is its negative archetype: a hollowed-out image into which the artist is able to precisely fit his own face. He places the column at forty-five degrees to the ground, and – using his face to apply pressure – slowly pushes it forwards. The overstretched portrait thereby becomes an oversized writing tool, the carving of the artist's face abrading itself on the rough surface to leave a broad chalk line.
Note: The text above was written by the Artist. No modification was made by COCA.
Markus Walenzyk
Germany
1976 Born in Wiesbaden, Germany
1998 – 2001 Training as a media designer for digital and print media
2009 – 2013 Study of Fine Arts at the Kunsthochschule Mainz
2003 – 2008 Media-Design at the University of Applied Sciences in Mainz
Lives and works in Mainz