Cerith Wyn Evans „...later on they are in a garden...“

To view the world poetical
6
Who would want to argue against a church being a sacred space? Each and every
religion has certain basic features plainly constituting each one specifically. Among
them being the most diverse acts of meditation and prayer, certain holy periods and
celebrations of special feasts and of course the naming of holy places. Even if Christianity
sets itself somewhat apart in this respect, not knowing holy spaces from within
itself, and the Christian church buildings not being part of its innermost nature, the
community of Christians cannot do without congregating, praying, celebrating the
commemoration of Christ and listen to Gods gospel together. Locations and rooms
are therefore needed, deriving their dignity and sanctity from the acts happening
within them.
It seems remarkable that especially those being somewhat distant from the church as a
community of faith, want to attribute sanctity to a church building under any circumstances.
Sanctity derives from charisma, design and use as places of worship. Among
other things sacral spaces are thus first and foremost places of speech.
Sankt Peter in Cologne is furthermore a noted space for cultural utilisation. In its
incarnation as “Kunst-Station Sankt Peter” the church is an internationally renowned
venue for contemporary music and art. Its appeal derives from the interaction of liturgy,
music and art in a dialog of the systems of religion and art, critically scrutinising and
simultaneously respecting their respective idiosyncrasies. The continual celebration of
church services sets Sankt Peter apart from other art institutions, working in (mostly
disused) churches, the art being consistently given such extensive space thus influencing
the liturgy making it different from other art exhibitions in a sacral environment. Art
being provocation not an illustration, art being a challenge not a fulfilment of illustratory
needs.
<strong>Cerith</strong> <strong>Wyn</strong> <strong>Evans</strong> is a man of the word using the potential of other areas of art like
literature and movies without imitating them, not exploiting them as aesthetical
strategy, but forming new correlations, new forms of visible and readable signs and
thus new mystical-poetical spaces. This last spring <strong>Wyn</strong> <strong>Evans</strong> placed such a space
into Sankt Peter. Many visitors of the Kunst-Station, but also those just visiting
the church for prayer or church service, have been captured by the complexity and
poetical power of his installation.
Admittedly it requires a certain curiosity and above that a certain measure of
unbiasedness to surrender to the cosmos of the artist. Too much prepossession prevents
us from putting meaning into the things we see. Too many questions possibly
lead us onto the false track. Only the lust for aesthetics and a sensitivity for poetry
facilitates change.
To be seduced in the room of the word of <strong>Cerith</strong> <strong>Wyn</strong> <strong>Evans</strong>, to view the world
and one’s own life poetical has great appeal. The artist raises not even the slightest
demand, his words never pretending to be in the same league with the meaning of
what has been declared and interpreted here for centuries, he bows to the power of
the word. Through shifting the meaning of the words, by enigmatically and subversively
putting them in the room, his art enables change.
Guido Schlimbach / Translation: Klaus HuSSmann
7
How even more appealing is the art of a poet in these circumstances, of an artist, placing
great importance on a word as a word, of a magician, shifting realities and amaze with
the complexity of his work.