Isn't It Good, Bavarian Wood
Andreas Kuhnlein is a Bavarian artist who renders the human condition with a chain saw in wood. He's a gentle soul for all that, and I enjoyed meeting him yesterday evening at a reception in Denver. He spoke movingly of the violence he saw at the East-West border, and how this side of humanity is portrayed by the chain saw ripping into wood. The wood itself suggests the frailty and brief duration of life. So his artwork combines two very different aspects of what it means to be human.
Andreas's visit had a commercial dimension, because it was orchestrated by community leaders who have been working for 25 years on building an deeper link between Munich and Denver. They dream today of a direct flight between the two cities. I enjoyed the mix of arts types and business leaders at the reception, and how the power of one man's artistic creation helped make new connections across continents.
My M-Audio Microtrack scared me to death when it refused to play the recording I'd made of Andreas at the reception. Apparently it will not show more than 80 tracks. But when I got home and put the CF card in the Mac, the recording was there, safe and sound. This device makes high-quality audio, but it's a tricky little beast, and I never know when it's going to steal something precious from me.
Here is the interview with Andreas, about six minutes long:
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
