AGNES KEIL

THE ALPHABET OF THE BODY - VARIATIONS ON ADAM AND EVE

An alphabet is the foundation of words and sentences, for complex languages and also the basis for interhuman communication.

For my project - 'The alphabet of the body - variations on Adam and Eve' - I developed twelve basic body formations which can be understood like an alphabet. They are the foundation for an independant sculptural language. All the works shown in this book have been created from these basic shapes. Sculptures which communicate, influence the space, surpassing themselves.
The alphabet of the body illustrates that conformity and individualism don't contradict each other. All humans are of a similar composition and yet are all unique universes. The human being, a social creature, is full of variations and adjustments in both inner and outer life.
The title 'Variations on Adam and Eve' points to the archetype of man in our western background, the origin of all variations and the element of movement and development of mankind per se.
Before the alphabet of the body I had spent years working with two-dimensional steel sculptures. The exploration of how the illusion of volume can be generated with a reduced taut silhouette. How, through the art of omission and proportional adjustment, the fantasy of the brain of the observer is activated. How the consciously placed energy generates movement in the shape, which then outgrows the sculpture and continues through the space.
As soon as several areas are added to one another, lines and surfaces overlap