4
of blurring the form (3), for example, the solid sculpture suddenly takes
on the illusion of the original figure; in a certain way it is resurrected out
of the inert world of the fixed figure.
As photographer, my interest is the extension of sculpture in the sense of
liberation from the torpor and visualisation of a dynamic, intrinsically
flowing being. This is what I'm attempting to achieve with the photogra-
phic technique I have chosen. But the result – and this aspect seems to
lead the whole endeavour to absurdity – is then no longer sculpture. I
only use sculpture for my final purpose, for me it has become an interim
product on the way to a form liberated from the forces of gravity.
NL – Nearly all of your series deal with forms and structures man has
created in a certain context or environment. The only exception is the
series
Beginning of Time
. How is this part of your work, which exhibits
almost abstract dimensions, to be understood in the context of your
work as a whole?
WL
– The sequence of my series must be viewed in such a way that the
series Beginning of Time is at the very end, taking sixth place. It must the-
refore be seen symbolically as the primeval mass, as the beginning of
human history out of which everything evolved. That is its quality, and
thus at this point in time, it may not yet be structure. It is the unformed
state, in which no one is living, so-to-speak the primeval state before it
was appropriated by humans. The series that follow exemplify human
activity in selected areas of human history. This development continues
until People Today, which looking from the beginning is the first series of
the cycle.
NL –When looking at the series
Beginning of Time
, what comes to mind
are concepts like endlessness, primeval time, eternity. To what extent is
your photography concerned with the dimension of time, and if it
indeed plays a role, how is this dimension reflected in other parts of
your work?
WL
– Time is the dimension on which all of my work is based. Here the
reader may interject that this is a trivial assertion, because naturally all
earthly occurrences take place in a temporal sequence. My cycle Journey
to the Beginning of Time must, however, be understood historically. I
register with my camera what I recognise, in an emblematic sense, as the
traces of terrestrial and human history, without making any claim to
completeness. At the start of this journey from the beginning of human
history (Beginning of Time) into the present there is only time and
matter, and at the end there is contemporary man (People Today). In
between, in the pictorial-narrative sense, I find traces of evolution and
human existence in the following areas: evolution (Primordial Forms of
Life), in the worship of gods (Home of the Gods), communication (Pictu-
res and Signs), and inventions and discoveries (Blessing of Technology). I
could also have found other examples, such as the cosmos, the develop-
ment of life or birth and death. But for now I have decided on the six
series mentioned above to comprise this cycle.
I didn’t plan the existing series arrangement in my cycle from the outset.
The series grew naturally, at different times and during periods of varying
length. This occasionally evokes criticism from people who seek a chro-
First Cycle
Journey to the Beginning of Time
Station
People Today
Station
Pictures and Signs
Station
Home of the Gods
Station
Beginning of Time
References
1. Moment and Duration in the Art
of Win Labuda
a concept by Nadja Labuda
2.
Win Labuda -Wall Pictures
by Nadja Labuda
3.
Journey to the Beginning of Time
byWin Labuda
6 - Stations in the first cycle
7 - References
