Sorcha Dallas

New Work Scoltand Programme 13 November 20 – December 18 2004 Press Release

Michael Stumpf

Michael Stumpf’s current works take language as a point of departure. Materials (denim, plastic, aluminum, found object and paper) are used to formulate a material alphabet. This alphabet is used to create sculptural works that refer to film props and also to the cultural history of the materials themselves. As part of a broader linguistic system the sculptures function as semantic structures that suggest a narrative. The work employs film and literature references that are sequences on video that repeat themselves. The display of the work captures a moment of an imagined narrative sat in a fictional landscape; like a frozen frame from a film, or a torn out page of a book. The sculptures become protagonists bound in a system of invented places and events. Their presence, as part of an exhibition, creates scenes that reflect an imaginary utopian space, face to face with Lebensraum – the space we live in.

The reference points of Michael’s work are digested through a sculptural production process of transformation/mutation to refashion our sense of time and place.

Born in Mannheim, Germany, Michael Stumpf is a co-founder of the artist-run space Kaiseroassage 21a in Karlsruhe, Germany. Currently based in Glasgow after completing the MFA at Glasgow School of Art earlier this year, his recent projects include; ‘Pilot:1 International Art Forum’, (2004) London; ‘No-How’, (2004) Collective Gallery and ‘EAST international’ (2003) at the Norwich Gallery.