Art and Spirituality; Wolfgang Laib

In Art and Today Eleanor Heartney speaks mostly of the relationship between art and spirituality being based around the representation of gods and of historical and present accounts and experiences of various religions. Be it a figurative representation of the God or event or more subtle or abstract representations. When looking at the work of Wolfgang Laib one might not initially interpret it as “spiritual”.

This is not to say Laibs work doesn’t at all relate to any organised religion or spirituality. There is evidence of Buddhism amongst others in his work and it is said that he draws on Kandinskian elements, concerning spirituality in art. Laibs’ work is obviously minimalist and the audience might have a sensuous relationship with it rather than an understanding of a direct narrative or concept.

Laib lives and breathes his craft. One could say he practices his art like religion and I believe this is why Heartney has included him in this particular segment of the book.

Laib advocates an art, which is primarily a mode of awakening the consciousness via the emotions.

The intensity of the colour in these works seems to balance the fragility and vulnerability. The sheer volume of intense hue in the rectangles is impressive and awe inspiring alone.

POLLEN

Laib lives in centre of the environment from where his materials originate. He spends several months collecting the pollen from various sources such as dandelion, pine, hazelnut and buttercups. He started this tradition in 1977 and continues today.

Its almost as if he is a worker bee for that duration when collecting the pollen. But as opposed to it being a labour of lively hood, it is a labour of spiritualty. The repetitive character of this activity gives the sense of a meditative practice.



MILKSTONES

Rectangular slabs of white marble are laboriously polished by the artist to create a 2mm deep impression on the upper surface. The ritualistic aspect of this work begins with Laib. He pours the milk into the impression until it is filled to the top and creates the illusion of a solid object. At the end of each showing, the milk must be removed, the stone carefully washed, dried and repolished in preparation for the next viewing.


Laibs’ work is produced as a spiritual practice and is intended to evoke spirituality in the viewer.


“Life, like art is fulfilled in this passage to consciousness, in this awakening, which allows us to participate in that which has gone before, that which will survive and that which goes beyond us¬¬”.