The title Transverse Wave is a poetic metaphor for the effects to which the exhibition aspires. A “transverse wave” consists of oscillations that occur perpendicular to the direction of energy transfer. Initiated from one side, after an interval it reaches the opposite side, creating a connection that can in turn be imagined in the reverse direction. An eclectic wave is set forth by bringing together Bahraini artist Rashid Al Khalifa with the German ones Mary Bauermeister & her son Simon Stockhausen.
MaryBauermeisterInstallation by Mary BauermeisterRoyal Bridges
Mary Bauermeister, Howevercall.
For Transverse Wave artworks were selected that consist of organic (e.g. wood, sand, fibre); materials to create the first wave of contrasts vis-à-vis Rashid Al Khalifa's metal œuvre.
MaryBauermeisterInstallation2 by Mary BauermeisterRoyal Bridges
In Howevercall the use of organic, found, and synthetic artistic materials is multiplied, in part leading to a trans-material transposition that can be noticed from the top to the bottom, and inversely.
Verschwindender Horizont (2019/2019) by Mary BauermeisterRoyal Bridges
Mary Bauermeister, Verschwindender Horizont [Disappearing Horizon),
As the title entails the artwork is formed to create a sense of being diminished, of slowly disappearing into itself.
Steingeburt by Mary BauermeisterRoyal Bridges
Mary Bauermeister, Steingeburt (Stone Birth).
Consists of countless small to mid-sized pebbles. Shaped round and flat by the wash of constant tides, they were handpicked according to their oval form, to then be arranged into a composition according to gradations of colour and in a relief like progression.
The arrangement produces a dynamic effect since the stones become denser toward the centre, and seem to ascend out of the work. The weight of several hundred kg is thus also concealed as movement seems to be inherent in the work: the stone material, considered static and indestructible, becomes dynamic.
Multicoloured Parametric People by Rashid Al KhalifaRoyal Bridges
Rashid Al Khalifa, Multicoloured Parametric.
The fascinating polychromatic structures Rashid Al Khalifa created include waves that invite the observer to submerge into the mesmerising details that captivate the beholder.
Multicoloured Parametric1 by Rashid Al KhalifaRoyal Bridges
In a waving contrast to Mary Bauermeister, Rashid
Al Khalifa does not assemble organic materials but rather sculpts objects with metal; the resulting sculptures give a much greater impression of “produced“ art.
Multicoloured Parametric Group by Rashid Al KhalifaRoyal Bridges
The Parametric series was accompanied during Transverse Wave by a hexaphonic soundtrack projected via six loudspeakers stations, three on each side of the transversal line.
Multicoloured Parametric Kuwait by Rashid Al KhalifaRoyal Bridges
...making it possible to project the two sound worlds from either side, moving layered sound textures from both worlds around the exhibition space, or even underscoring specific exhibits located near a given speaker station.
Pressure Wave by Rashid Al KhalifaRoyal Bridges
Rashid Al Khalifa, Mobile Column, 2018,
Rashid's waves vis-à-vis Mary Bauermeister's own work is the plays between the visible and the hidden.
Mobile column1 by Rashid Al KhalifaRoyal Bridges
In Transverse Wave Rashid Al Khalifa's three-dimensional, patterned layers nested one-on-top-of, and one-into another, create areas of light and shade, which likewise are set in contrast to Mary Bauermeister's 'Light Sheet'.
Mobile colum shadows by Rashid Al KhalifaRoyal Bridges
Steel and aluminium, go from the convex form to that of the wave, which in his most recent work becomes a formal constant. Al Khalifa's works on the picture plane in its entirety, lends it structure, covers it with a complex filigreed, three-dimensional network of lines, thus transforming it into a vibrating medium of light and space.
Boy by Rashid Al KhalifaRoyal Bridges
The entire configuration of his suspending columns, the form of the wave, the reworking of the surface with the filigreed aluminium or steel-structures, expose an additional dimension. It enables sound to be visually perceptual, as an oscillation at the threshold between seeing and hearing. And so his works become objects of resonance.
Parametric White by Rashid Al KhalifaRoyal Bridges
Rashid Al Khalifa, Transverse Wave, 2019.
The patterns do bring a contrast between the German artist and Rashid wherein the white patterns reminisce to Bahrain's deserts and seas.
Parametric White2 by Rashid Al KhalifaRoyal Bridges
The roar of the waves in contrast to the stillness of the sand dunes. The glaring light at high temperatures. The hard-edged shadows then. The hazy light when in spring the wind blows desert sand into the city. The plain white urban buildings on the one hand and those with the décor of artful
arabesques and Islamic embellishment, on the other.
MaryBauermeisterInstallation by Mary BauermeisterRoyal Bridges
The site-specific sound installation for Transverse Wave, developed especially for the premises of me Collectors Room in Berlin, juxtaposes, layers and morphs two counterpointing types of sonic material as composed by Simon Stockhausen.
Mobile column by Rashid Al KhalifaRoyal Bridges
Light as the transformer and play of shadow naturally created are recurring in both, Mary Bauermeister's and Rashid Al Khalifa's artworks.
The contrast of light and shadows penetrate and dematerialise objects.
Transverse Wave presentation by Rashid Al Khalifa & Mary BauermeisterRoyal Bridges
Transverse Wave approaches artistic creations from opposite ends of the spectrum. Whereas the works of Bauermeister are composed of naturally found materials, Al Khalifa uses synthetic fabrics. Because of their consistent, framed structures and the selected substances, his objects suggest a minimalist aesthetic with an austere serials.
Transverse Wave was on display at me Collectors Room in Berlin [Olbricht Foundation] from 16.11.2019 through 31.01.2020 (https://www.me-berlin.com/transverse-wave-16-11-2019-31-01-2020/lang/en/).
It was curated by Karin Adrian von Roques and Hauke Ohls.
Partaking artists were Mary Bauermeister (b. 1934). Her studio in Cologne from 1960 to 1962, is considered to be one of the birthplaces of the
Fluxus movement (https://marybauermeister.org) and Rashid Al Khalifa (b. 1952) explores the dynamics of energy, such as light and
colour in his artworks (https://www.rashidalkhalifa.com).
The exhibition was accompanied by a tailed composition by Simon Stockhausen (b. 1967, https://www.simonstockhausen.com).
Royal Bridges holds merely the copyright to the images herewith used of the artworks of Mary Bauermeister, the artworks themselves remain with the aforementioned artist.
