Abetz & Drescher - Big Bang

Christoph Tannert, curator and art critic, wrote about the
works of Maike Abetz and Oliver Drescher: "What's most
surprising with Abetz & Drescher's images is that they
stubbornly resist all current ideals in sound design. They
feature none of the murderously compressed studio sounds,
which today are accounted for as edginess; everything in
these images is soft, flowing, ornamental, fluorescent
adolescent under reversed premises.

By conceiving it as an ever-changing process, Abetz &
Drescher relentlessly put design to the test, trying to strike
an approximate balance between soft touch and cathartic
noise. Their imagery has something quelling about it,
something open to interpretation – presumably because the
cover stars of the Sixties are being recalled from oblivion.

This is the very reason for their particular appeal. It has
nothing to do with nostalgia. Captivating melodies struggle
into the open, cutting through a thick pencilled jungle
threatening to colonize the record player.

These are images for folk heroes, for legendary figures,
images for gods. With their floral lines, and stoned like a
bunch of hippies, they quietly and unceremoniously thrust
us into nirvana to the sounds of organs. Great visions have
collapsed. Today's fashion is strictly compartmented but the
old magic mends it all."
The old magic – it’s been 50 years since Bob Dylan on
March 19th 1962 released his debut album, since a band
named The Rolling Stones appeared for the first time on
July 12th 1962 at the Marquee Club in London, and since
The Beatles came out with their first single ‘Love Me Do’ on
October 5th 1962. In that year, there was a kind of big
bang, which decisively shaped history in the second half of
the 20th century, culture in all its manifestations, and
eventually also politics. Dylan, Stones and Beatles – the
three fixed stars of the rock and pop-era were born. Jimi
Hendrix, The Who, The Kinks, The Doors, and countless
others followed them in a literal rock explosion, which still
influences music, fashion, film and art. Today, 50 years
later, we are celebrating this Big Bang with an exhibition by
Abetz & Drescher. Keep on rockin' and save the date – the
preview is Friday, August 24th 2012.