Anselm Kiefer Interview: Art is Spiritual

Meet the extolled German artist, Anselm Kiefer, who lives for the process of creating, argues that history is a moldable material, considers art a spiritual occupation and refers to himself as a “dinosaur”.

Art is a spiritual occupation, capturing a form of contact that science can’t: “It makes a connection between things that are separated,” Kiefer argues. In his mind, his works should continually evolve and be fluid. The process of creating is of utmost importance to him, as it is the process rather than the end that has his interest, and what’s between the paintings rather than in them. “I am a dinosaur – I paint myself,” he comments.

Kiefer argues that history is a material, which is moldable like argil, and in this way becomes less horrific as it is possible to reform it. “History shows that humankind has a wrong construction in their head…it’s badly done,” he continues, half-jokingly remarking that if an airplane had such a construction, it would fall down all the time. He, however, does not consider it his job as an artist to express a certain attitude towards history: “I just show it like I see it.”

Anselm Kiefer (born 1945) is a German painter and sculptor. His works incorporate materials such as straw, ash, clay, lead and shellac. Spirituality and history are important themes in Kiefer’s works, which frequently address and seek to process taboo and often dark, controversial issues from recent history, such as the horrors of the Holocaust. Kiefer, whose style is often linked to ‘New Symbolism’, lives and works primarily in Paris, France and in Alcáder do Sal, Portugal.

Anselm Kiefer was interviewed by Tim Marlow at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in 2010.

Camera: Marie Friis Forchhammer
Edited by: Marie Friis Forchhammer
Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2015

Supported by Nordea-fonden

[eugenenciu]

ART is one of GOD's door to his living room! When you start to paint or draw you are already Multidimensional. Blessings!

[Artmaker]

This is a marvelous interview. Thank you for posting it.

[sevensilverpetals]

Love Tim Marlow - he is so natural with Anslem Keifer and actually having conversation with him, rather than firing scripted, interrogative-type questions from a notepad. Keifer is a magnificant, iconic talent.

[LydK]

Many artists feel art is spiritual. The practice of art is also spiritual.

[vidiot]

I feel that making art is like a dialogue between a Buddhist and a physicist. All parts of the brain need to be alert and ready to act. Great insight into Keifer's creativity. A good interview for input and more importantly one's own output. 🌀

[emilysmarshmallowaddiction]

Every painting that is and that will ever be, , born from dust, will one day again be dust floating in the cosmos for eternity, , this is the beautiful big picture

[lazydaisybookart]

When I make art I connect to an energy.

[MarkSeibold]

I especially related to Kiefer's recollection of his First Communion, as a young Catholic. I had the same recollection, deciding to become an artist at age seven in my second grade classroom of elementary school. I had no idea that Id be asked to lecture or discuss my life in art, until a few years ago, [or that I would speak about in on National Public Radio, live many times.]

[deniselynn]

I do what I call mediational art I encourage students to paint to music & tell everyone to let their spirit & soul to create the painting it been very interesting paints that comes forth yes I would say art can be spiritual & cause the artist to become spiritual in their creative art....there a artist in all of us...I enjoy working with beginners best students to work with...

[caleighbocrie]

I always say that art helps bring a translation, some order, to the chaos

[jakethehuman]

The word spiritual gets clichéd and people forget it's power. The process of making art embodies spiritual blueprints like the hero story + role of the artist parallel

[simeonbanner]

Funny the contrast in personality and culture. Kiefer: direct, intense and Tim Marlow: tip toeing around, indirect and uncomfortable to discuss anything too deep for the event and the audience and perhaps himself.

[m-bronte]

God is also called the Creator, and that part of us that creates is connected to the spirit within. The creation process is the voice of spirit.

[josephtermeer]

"it's one reason to be an artist ".... Its a funny, and, sad comment at the same time. This artist is certainly a monster creator! He is someone I hope to meet soon.

[jenns.]

i just now realized that he speaks both German AND English. I've heard him speak in both, but it never hit me before that i was hearing him speak in two different languages.

[rembeadgc]

Human beings are spiritual by nature. There is no separation between man and the spiritual. You can no more separate man from spirit than you can separate oxygen from water. If you remove oxygen its no longer water. Without the spiritual... man is not man. Man is only separated from the spiritual in his mind but regardless of what he thinks or says... he acts as though spirit is essential to his reality... because it is. He cannot escape it without abandoning himself. The source of man's ills is his spiritual condition and how he thinks (or not) about it. Art, in its many forms, is a visual/sonic/linguistic expression of spirituality. Without the spiritual... art would be meaningless.

[mxmp-b]

for whatever it's worth, when Kiefer speaks about studios and says it's not "immobile", he probably means "immobiliar", german for "real estate" . Not "immobile".

[JamesThatcher_jtnwdc]

Yeah, but what about that amazing Sam Francis painting overseeing the whole interview?!

[richardanderson]

The painting in the background is a Sam Francis

[emreoz]

Something is not quite pleasant about the communication style in this video.