OCTOBER 2014 – by LUCAS REINER

(An American painter in Germany)

Kassel – Oct. 5, 2014

7,000 Eichen, Beuys

planted oak trees – 1982

Judaic tradition of

planting a tree

to commemorate the

death of a loved one.

Unspoken, undiscussed –

lives of people killed in

Kassel after the bombing

“No one cares about the

Germans who died in the

war”, a friend says in passing.

Picking up a trail

left by Beuys –

Taking nature and

making something else

out of it – (a portrait)

– turning it into another

thing – commodity –

Art = Kapital (to improve…)

Oct. 6, 2014

Kassel Suite For Gita

light transforming darkness

Dancing on the ruins

Gauleiter Weinrich

Beuys’ trees – 7,000

the number itself

transformation (and healing)

dark towards light    after

bombs falling for 2 years straight.

The trees themselves in groups

one overtaken by light

casting shadow on the street

           long shadow

When they rebuilt Kassel

after the war should they

have left some of the ruins –

like Rome – would the feeling

in the city be different

today – one simply can’t ignore

the past, but can re-construct

it –

Basalt markers

             Ghosts

             +

              Shadows

putting the darkness behind

the light – not as a conquest –

but integration.