Published in: Oliver Zybok (Hg.): Sven Drühl – Artistic Research. Kerber Verlag. Bielefeld 2006

Reinhard Spieler : DJ Bastard

Talking of lacquer and silicone one at least thinks of art. More likely of artificiality. Of a milieu, at any rate, in which originality plays no role, in which one attunes to parameters that have to do with the appeal of the surface, with the attraction of the first glance which seeks to serve primary needs. Even if one intellectually wants to leave this milieu, one does not really get closer to art. With lacquer and silicone one rather ends up in the vicinity of cars, quite generally perhaps also in pop culture. The latter may even be regarded as a metaphor for the material iconology of lacquer and silicone: on the one hand silicone is needed for sealing - for separating different areas, but on the other hand for exactly the opposite - namely for mending gaps or breaks that result from the clash of different materials or workpieces; lacquer creates uniform, shining, and perfect surfaces. So both materials serve to cover ruptures or breaks, to create the illusion of a perfect, intact, and sterile surface: an artificial world or rather a world of artificiality - and that can surely be considered one of the really great characteristics and achievements of pop culture. 

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Dr. Reinhard Spieler: DJ Bastard