Index. Zeichen. Jacqueline Burckhardt Here Jewels Maketh Not the Man. Plaste & Elaste. Florian Hufnagl Preface. Körperkultur

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2 Index Zeichen 4 Jacqueline Burckhardt Here Jewels Maketh Not the Man 99 Plaste & Elaste Florian Hufnagl Preface 64 Körperkultur Pravu Mazumdar The Cartogram of Reversals 130 Transformation Chantal Prod Hom Carole Guinard Les mains intelligentes, l esprit malicieux 70 Code Otteli Der Rote Punkt Akio Seki Jewelry wa nani ni kizoku surunoka? 91 Gold My First Car Neue Welle Ellen Maurer Zilioli All or Nothing 92 Gold macht blind Pre-Work Bild Walter Grasskamp Chinese Seal Rings 94 Gerd Rothmann sagt: Otto Künzli sagt: 190 Index

3 Farbe Wolpertinger Bis dass der Tod Euch scheidet Ornament Die Schönheitsgalerie Mariage en chocolat Auge il primo pezzo alla mia patria Fragments Kette Amsterdam, München, Glasgow Das Schweizer Gold Die Deutsche Mark 258 Broken Mickey Mouse Le mépris The Brand Б Beograd Vom Inhalt der Dinge Haus The Monument Herz Royal Index 5

4 The Manhattan Piece Japan Cozticteocuitlatl Wahrzeichen Indian Summer Walking Brains Bock mit Inhalt Australian Diary USA # ONE Millennium Freunde Terra Australia Oh, say! Who nose? Out of the dark O sole mio Japan Wie Du Mir So Ich Dir Der letzte Schnee Nihon Nikki Miki Motto Das Kreuz Die Schweiz Index

5 Tokyo Nikki Hana-bi 512 In ei 578 Chantal Prod Hom Carole Guinard Clever hands and malicious wit Fukidashi Copy and Paste 516 Sumi 586 Akio Seki Where does jewellery come in? Change Shanzhai Imago Vita Pluto & Co Nare Himmel und Hölle PS π Paralipomenon Marzee Imprint Gaijin Annex Index 7

6 ALL OR NOTHING Ellen Maurer Zilioli There are calling cards in circulation which, as a joke, seek to mislead those who read them into thinking that a serious matter and a high-ranking individual are concerned. They show Künzli in person in various phases of his life, from the pram to the professorial chair. One of these photos introduces the present publication. It is obvious that the protagonist has never really shaken off the later photo-booth photos. From time to time whenever he gets the urge he simply has to go into it again, into the box, or he uses existing snapshots as if they had been taken for an important document. He was born with an inclination for jokes and a love for photography. PROLOGUE: IN MEDIA RES For the first time, Künzli s work is presented in a complete review. His artistic work rests on creative integrity, a witty imagination and ideological autonomy, and analytical reflection as well as a keen eye for observing social and cultural contexts, a profound feeling for succinct and clear design, an acerbic sense of humour and subversive irony altogether an ambitious stance, one that exacts just as much from himself as it does from his opposite number. Singular and outstanding, his work is there, consolidated by consistent refusal to pander to notions of good taste, commercial levelling and watering down the ideas for which it is a vehicle. Künzli places new parameters and provides a paradigm switch and value displacement. He expresses himself for the most part in the form of jewellery. It represents the intellectual starting point for his artistic praxis and action. Conceptual approaches, a processual tenor, minimalist articulation, and abstraction and associative enquiry inform his execution, putting their stamp on it to lend it the ultimate signature. «His works do not adorn. But they are beautiful. They are wearable but they make a statement.» 1 Highroads and byroads can be detected; several strands link ramifications with implications that go further to interweave themes over the course of development. If we view artistic creation as a grid of coordinates, as a «campus», on which the author acts let s compare one of the bestknown oil paintings by Paul Klee, also a Swiss, «Hauptweg und Nebenwege» (1929), a dense fabric of surfaces and lines we can begin to reconstruct and understand the «Künzli creative system». He certainly does not belong to the spontaneous and expansively gesticulating faction of our art history but rather to a contemplative, indeed philosophical tendency, which unites intensity, memorable forcefulness and intelligent wit, which is fond of discovering both sides of the coin in order to expose the weaknesses of the human condition, albeit occasionally with a discreet smirk. He is by no means a friend of improvisation: nothing is left to chance. Every single work represents the outcome of searching deliberation and often quite protracted, elaborate investigation of a motif and its cultural overlays. «Whether in your face or subversive, Otto Künzli displaces our visual perception by underpinning his pieces of jewellery both materially and symbolically with a subtext, thus undermining conventional notions of value.» 2 Just as Marcel Duchamp once radically touted a conception of art that, nearly a century later, still gives rise to a certain uneasiness, Künzli pushes the existential question of what jewellery is across established boundaries, sometimes turning it upside down to refresh our angle Ellen Maurer Zilioli 1 Florian Hufnagl in his encomium on the occasion of the award of the Ring of Honor to Professor Otto Künzli by the Association of Goldsmiths Art, Hanau, 28 May Claudia Cattaneo in her encomium on the occasion of the award of the 2010 Grand Prix Design to Otto Künzli, Zurich, 30 November

7 on it. He uses presumptively verified premises of his medium to investigate them in a search for inherent flaws, for possible enlargement of the options they offer. Just as Antony Gormley has functionalised the human figure as a classic motif in a global contemporary context, thus opening up innovative paths within and beyond the framework of sculpture in «Horizon Field» ( ), for instance, an installation high up in the Vorarlberg Alp, Künzli is inspired by a wish to anchor jewellery, as a complete and canonical applied arts field, in a universal contemporary context that is socially and politically relevant, thus giving it a sufficiently contemporary identity. Another comparison may once again illustrate this aspect: a work such as «The Lightning Field» (1977) by the US Minimalist Walter de Maria comes very close «in spirit» to our auteur. At an altitude of 2,195 metres in the mountains of New Mexico, 400 stainless-steel rods polished to a high gloss, measuring 5.8 cm in diameter by 6.2 m in length are arrayed at regular intervals, «an act of unconditional freedom and assertion committed by art towards nature, a value-neutral co-existence of two systems», 3 whose singularity is raised to a higher power by virtue of their encounter. Now we have crossed mountains and valleys to approach the work because Künzli circles about his goals in much the same way, letting content and form clash, creating dialogue between tradition and modernity, only to subdue them ultimately in a succinct statement, with the intention of viewing similarly fundamental issues concerning man and ornament, cultural conditioning and global existence from his vantage point. However, to make it a bit easier for us sometimes, he occasionally adds a subtle subversive twinkle in his eye. He owes that to his Swiss origins. He is a native of Zurich, where by the early twentieth century (to be more precise, by about 1916), a circle of emigrants had formed, who called themselves Dadaists and cultivated intellectual nonsense in order to stick their fingers in the wounds of their era. Something of that bizarre ambience has stuck and constantly recurs in statements made in Swiss art, from Fischli/Weiss to Pipilotti Rist, all of them astute observers of reality and its pitfalls. And since we have arrived at comparisons and art-historical alignments, it should be pointed out that Otto Künzli s work appeared early on in contexts which normally take no notice of jewellery, alongside Mario Botta, Martin Disler, Urs Lüthi, Peter Fischli and David Weiss (1982 in The Hague). Künzli is regarded not only as an exponent of a Munich scene but also, along with Angelika Bader, Dietmar Tanterl, Ulrich Horndash, Stephan Huber, Gerhard Merz, Roland Fischer and others, as an advocate of contemporary trends. In 2004 Künzli was shown in Meran with the likes of Alexander Calder, Michael Buthe, James Lee Byars, Lucio Fontana and Imi Knoebel at the 2005 Stedelijk Museum summer exhibition in Amsterdam, typically alongside Memphis Design, Issey Miyake, Bruce Nauman, Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd and Andy Warhol, to name just a few examples. You have to wonder why this has not come to be taken as a matter of course and why the allocation of jewellery to such trends has remained so little in the public consciousness. STAGES, STORIES AND CYCLES I. Künzli s initial artistic bent first drew on the experience of the late Bauhaus aesthetic imported while he was studying from 1965 until 1970 at the Zurich Applied Arts School now the Zurich University of the Arts, shaped by Max Bill (who, incidentally, trained as a silversmith at the same school from 1924 to 1927), Richard Paul Lohse and Johannes Itten. The reductive doctrine of the metalwork class, committed to the logic of a functional aesthetic as taught by Max Fröhlich, set the fundamentals on course. Admissions made by Max Bills demonstrate a stance that would also have consequences for Künzli, as the following statement made by Bills shows: «One might 3 Eckhard Schneider, available at htm#gormley (accessed on 24 October 2012). Ellen Maurer Zilioli 17

HERE JEWELS MAKETH NOT THE MAN Jacqueline Burckhardt In the German dictionary collaborated on by the Brothers Grimm, the entry for the German word for «jewellery» (Schmuck) states that it derives

What about the interrelationship between object and person? There are quite a few works of Künzli s that do not nestle against the wearer s body; instead, it is up to the wearer to adapt to them.

On occasion, Künzli s jewellery challenges the wearer to performative behaviour. In «Transformation», a photo sequence, a rubber band models a face into a comic mask.

8 HERE JEWELS MAKETH NOT THE MAN Jacqueline Burckhardt In the German dictionary collaborated on by the Brothers Grimm, the entry for the German word for «jewellery» (Schmuck) states that it derives etymologically from the word for «to nestle, snuggle» (schmiegen). 1 With jewellery by Otto Künzli, however, the question that comes to mind is: What nestles here against whom, or who against what? What about the interrelationship between object and person? There are quite a few works of Künzli s that do not nestle against the wearer s body; instead, it is up to the wearer to adapt to them. His jewellery for hooking on, «Plaste & Elaste», infests the wearer s clothes like parasites, flaunting its hooks instead of hiding them as brooches do their clasps. On occasion, Künzli s jewellery challenges the wearer to performative behaviour. In «Transformation», a photo sequence, a rubber band models a face into a comic mask. To take another example, an idiosyncratic set of jewellery insists on being jammed between the fingers, which are held stiff and straight to accommodate it. This set consists of three loose blade-shaped steel triangles with sharp points that stick out menacingly beyond the ends of the fingers Jacqueline Burckhardt No one casually opts for jewellery like this because the object directs here and only exists as jewellery when it is being worn. After it has been taken off, it is no longer recognisably jewellery. At first sight, the three triangular scales with their sharp points are reminiscent of accessories favoured by Hells Angels or punks or even the poisoned blade that shoots out of the tip of KGB agent Rosa Klebb s shoe as her signature weapon in the James Bond film From Russia with Love. Künzli s triangles, however, are merely threatening mimicry because they sit loosely between the fingers and so are unsuitable as weapons. A second glance at the hand accoutred with this jewellery may remind you of a musical instrument prepared for performance, as if Künzli like John Cage, who jammed objects between the strings or hammers of a piano to alter its timbre had wanted to equip the hand for some sort of unknown ritual act. What would actually wearing this jewellery feel like? As if you were a sort of human machine stalking through Cyber City? Künzli sees «a dynamic all their own, the elegance of a jet fighter in fast flight» in those steel triangles. This is how you can also imagine flying the skies of Cyber City at supersonic speed. Each work of Künzli s evokes a host of associations and interpretations; that is what makes them so good. 1 Sylvia Stephan, «Das körperwiderständige Schmuckobjekt. Autorenschmuck in Europa seit den 1960er Jahren», doctoral dissertation, Eberhard-Karls-Universität, Tübingen: 2009, p. 4, available at (accessed on 29 October 2012). 64

Once in 1982 he played around with the dangerous element mercury. Who isn t fascinated by the properties of this material, its powers of reflecting, its heaviness?

Künzli could not resist the temptation of playing with the mystique of this legendary metal. «Handspiegel» was his title for an ephemeral piece of jewellery made of pure mercury.

In the hand of this highly skilled goldsmith, the mercury assumed form, responded to even the slightest movement, adapting itself fluidly and nimbly while still looking compact and as hard as stone.

9 Once in 1982 he played around with the dangerous element mercury. Who isn t fascinated by the properties of this material, its powers of reflecting, its heaviness? Who doesn t marvel at its capacity for bursting into viscous beads, which then may join up to form one big perfect drop? Künzli could not resist the temptation of playing with the mystique of this legendary metal. «Handspiegel» was his title for an ephemeral piece of jewellery made of pure mercury. Because its fumes are so toxic, he only wore it once and had himself photographed wearing it. In the hand of this highly skilled goldsmith, the mercury assumed form, responded to even the slightest movement, adapting itself fluidly and nimbly while still looking compact and as hard as stone. «Die Hand, die nur meinetwegen hohl gewachsen ist» seems to be what the picture is saying. That is an allusion to a 1968 Happening by Sigmar Polke, when the artist squeezed himself from head to foot into a hollow tree and added the following comment to the photograph: «Die Weide, die nur meinetwegen hohl gewachsen ist». 2 Polke, who, incidentally, also harboured a marked affinity with mercury and the Mercurius of alchemy. «Handspiegel» has a remote resemblance to «Der letzte Schnee». A patch of snow on a Swedish island had retreated to linger for a while in a place that was favourable from the standpoint of climate and topography. Just before it melted, the inspired goldsmith discovered it and took a picture of it as an ephemeral natural outdoor «bijou trouvé». As touched on above, the inclusion of such a wide variety of materials saturated with sensory signals in Künzli s œuvre is one of the main reasons it is so broad-ranging and satisfyingly rich in contrasts. «Gold macht blind» consists of a matt black, thin piece of rubber tubing, bent into a bangle and glued together at the ends. As jewellery, this piece looks entirely innocuous and even cuddly when worn: warm, elastic and soft as silk, like the most delicate skin. The bangle has a noticeable round bulge in one place, where a small gold ball is concealed. Gold, the most precious of metals, millions of years old and exposed to the light of day after being wrested from stone by toiling miners, has here been plunged back into utter darkness. What most civilisations for millennia have venerated as a symbol of the Sun, divinity and light and is the most popular material with jewellers has here vanished into worthless black latex. With this bangle on your wrist, you are hoarding a secret and a valuable that is otherwise flaunted openly. 2 Mu nieltnam netorruprup, exh. cat. Kunsthalle zu Kiel and Schleswig-Holsteinischer Kunstverein, Kiel 1975, cat. no. 4m. Jacqueline Burckhardt 65

10 MY FIRST CAR Citroën 2CV 1962 France

11 Zweifingerring 1967 PVC 93

12 Laced arm jewellery photo study

13 121

14 158 Gold macht blind in Melbourne, Zurich, Auckland, Munich and Tokyo

15 159 Gold macht blind in Tokyo, Munich, Philadelphia, Melbourne, Lisbon and Amsterdam

16 DER ROTE PUNKT Der Rote Punkt brooch 1980 drawing pin, rubber 178

17 179 Drawing-pin brooches 1980

18 HERZ Herz brooch 1985 hard-foam plastic, lacquer, steel 248

19 Angelika Bader with Herz 1985 Cibachrome print 249

20 Die Schönheitsgalerie Susy 1984 Cibachrome print 282

21 Die Schönheitsgalerie Andrea 1984 Cibachrome print 283

22 302

23 ROYAL The Royal Piece I nipple crown 1988 gold, steel 303

24 382 Oh, say! brooch 1991 gold

25 383 Oh, say! T-shirt 1992 silkscreen print, cotton with traces of Terra Australia

26 FREUNDE Freunde and Vergissmeinnicht pins brass, paint, steel 426

27 Freunde brooches 1997 brass, paint 427

28 466 Millennium necklace iron, gold, steel, lead

29 467

30 Wahrzeichen 1 August emblem 2002 silvered brass, plastic 480

31 Wahrzeichen 2002 computer transformation of Andy Warhol s banana (1966) 481

32 IMAGO Blape pendant 2010 MDF, alkyl linoleum paint 558

33 Moon 2010 Chasch-mer 2011 pendants MDF, alkyl linoleum paint 559

34 Traces of Movements X, IX, II pendants 2007 gold, silk 574

35 575 Traces of Movements VII pendant 2007 gold, silk

36 598 Shanzhai 25 Chinese seal rings 2012 including agalmatolite inscription: Fake

37 599 Yanpin 25 Chinese seal rings 2012 including agalmatolite inscription: Copy

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