This graphic is my tribute to Jörg Schlick, an Austrian concept artist, author, painter, curator and musician. He was my teacher for two years and taught me what art truly is. He died on December 29th 2005, leaving a big hole in our hearts.
Jörg Schlick’s work was controversial, to say the least. His lectures were different, colorful and refreshing. Sometimes he would speak for hours about his journeys, experiences and people he met, worked or talked with and it was always related to the topic in the curriculum, believe it or not. He liked discussing art, music, politics, technology etc. with his students, but he was also a true believer in learning-by-doing, so whatever topic, artist or art movement we touched, he wanted us in front of a linen canvas, paint and brushes in hands, ready to show our understanding by expressing ourselves visually.
He was the founder of “Lord Jim Lodge”, an artist association that published a magazine named “Sun Breasts Hammer”, which was the association’s logo. The idea was to make this logo “more famous than the logo of Coca Cola”.
One of his famous work collections were “vinyl record graphics”, ink on paper, of which he made dozens. They were exhibited at the turn of the century; some he sold, but most of them he gave away as a present.
I can vividly remember one of his lectures when he was discussing the aesthetics of printed formats; he stated that one of the most pleasing ones, in his opinion, was the square format, but he also characterized it as “the most challenging one to design”.
These were the thoughts that went through my mind when I heard about his departure and I wanted to keep them forever, so I expressed myself the way he taught me: visually, emotionally and “quadratisch”.
