Everything has an end just the Wurst which has two, an exhibit by Luxembourgeois artist Mike Bourscheid, will be held at the Yactac Gallery on Ontario St. from Jan. 17 to 24.
Bourscheid, who also frequently uses his body as a reference in his work, expresses his art through a process-based approach. Whether it is through working with clay, sewing materials, drawing or performing, the process in forming the art work signifies his freedom in expression.
Critiquing by humour
Bourscheid’s artwork Der gebückte Wanderer ; Unterwegs ist er nie verhungert. | Photo courtesy of Mike Bourscheid
In the exhibit, Bourscheid aims to humorously address social and political concerns through the theme of family.
“I got the idea for the show to create sculptures that represent a family member. You know, the whole show is kind of a family portrait,” he says.
Bourscheid explains that although it may not always be necessary for the audience to fully comprehend his work, presenting something sincere or dramatic in a humorous way can give a chance for his audience to critique the deeper meaning behind his work.
“The first thing when a joke is funny, people laugh. But at a second look, people will [be] like ‘oh yeah, wow what did that mean?’ So it’s easier to talk about political themes or critique the classical family situation or how people exclude gender varieties,” he says.
Although Bourscheid works on themes that address these issues, he does not consider himself a political artist. He rather prefers to express himself freely and not be limited to working on one particular theme.
“When I go to my studio, I want to have fun. I want to laugh at myself. If something interests me, I just do it,” he says.
Explaining extremities
Bourscheid explains that the word Wurst, used in the title of his exhibition, means sausage in German. The title is originally a German song which Bourscheid grew up listening to.
In the exhibit, Bourscheid explains that many of his works involve the endings or extremities of the body such as the feet and nose.
“So I thought like okay, everything has an end just like the sausage has two [ends]. So it’s an easy thing to say, and it’s true,” he says.
Translating the title from German to English, Bourscheid explains why he left the word Wurst as it is and did not change it to sausage.
“Because language is important, it opens different gates. I didn’t want to use [the word] sausage because I just love that word [in German]. Wurst is such a beautiful word,” he says.
Comparing culture
Der Kaktus Tänzer. Hand coloured silver print, framed with masking tape. | Photo courtesy of Mike Bourscheid
Bourscheid says coming to Vancouver and being away from the culture he is accustomed to have certainly influenced the flow of his works. Being away from Germany where he has lived in for several years, he mainly misses their humor.
“I think that’s why I work so much in my studio. That is because I just created my own little country in my studio,” Bourscheid says.
Bourscheid, however, thinks that this works best for him.
“It’s good to be away from home because then you think more [about] what you don’t have here and what you miss or what comes out from yourself,” he says.
For the exhibit, Bourscheid hopes for the audience to relax and get rid of the everyday pressure of proving oneself, to loosen up and not think too much.
Bourscheid also hopes his audience can see his works with a classical vision of sculpture and not merely focus on determining if the pieces have a political meaning or not.
“Just look at it, look at the forms, the materials, without always talking about the meaning of political meaning or if I wanna say something. If people see something in it, for me it’s interesting to talk about. If it’s not like that, that’s totally fine,” he says.
