Rolf Sachs

What is typically German? Is it really the love of lawn gnomes, gemutlichkeit, and beer? Are the Germans neat freaks, the champions of orderliness and rigid cleaning schedules, a nation unrivaled in its devotion to the virtues of punctuality and conscientiousness? A lawn gnome in a minework’s uniform hewn out of anthracit coal; a bronzecast tower of books rising to a height of more than thirteen feet that bears the title The Infinite Spirit; and a brass plummet magnified to a multiple of the original size that stands for precisionthese are only three of the works Rolf Sachs presents in his book typisch deutsch?. Inspired by the diversity of German culture and the particular qualities as well as stereotypes associated with it, the Londonbased artist and designer rolf Sachs takes an analytical look at ideas such as tidiness, wanderlust, attachment to the native soil, melancholia, and sociability. He interprets them in multifaceted, subtle, and sometimes humorous ways, visualizing what he finds in singular objects and installations on display in his exhibition. Balancing between art and design, the pieces solicit the viewer’s curiosity and encourage him to see things with fresh eyes and reflect on the German mentality and its peculiarities.