BOGOMIL'S CEREMONIAL STAGE - CASPAR AND HIS PROPS

One interesting piece that travelled with me around the world, and is currently with me in my home in Vienna, is

BOGOMIL'S CEREMONIAL STAGE - CASPAR AND HIS PROPS
BOGOMILS CEREMONIAL STAGE - WEB2000.jpg

^{acrylic on canvas - 25 x 36 cm - 1983}

A talented writer from the Philippines, Kristine Ong Muslim, wrote about it, as well as a few other works of mine in her book We Bury the Landscape. Here is the text:

^{Bogomil‘s Ceremonial Stage: Caspar and His Props

after Otto Rapp‘s Bogomil‘s Ceremonial Stage:

Caspar and His Props (1983) acrylic on canvas 14 × 10 in.}

^{Caspar, Bogomil‘s sidekick, started the riot of prayer rallies and theater assemblage that featured exaggerated feats by Bogomil as he cavorted with young ladies from stage to stage. Our favorite effigy was the singular blackened one created in the likeness of the Rorschach test‘s first image. Yes, the one that was supposed to look like a butterfly, although most folks insisted it was a moth. Some comments in the guestbook passed around by Caspar described the thing as Icarus before or after his wings melted, a vagina, a phone book opened to entries starting with Z, a microwave oven with a poorly fitting

door, an artichoke pickled in squid ink, etc. Each day, we convinced ourselves that its form had changed, its colors had shifted. The effigy followed us in our dreams. Each time we woke, we were certain we had pinpointed what it was.

~ from We Bury the Landscape by Kristine Ong Muslim}

After I had posted this on DeviantArt in 2007, a friend commented with a quote from Jean Arp, referring to Kaspar Hauser:

^{weh unser guter kaspar ist tot

wer verbirgt nun die brennende fahne im zopf und wer dreht die kaffeemühle

wer lockt nun das idyllische reh

auf dem meer verwirrte er die schiffe mit dem wörtchen parapluie und die winde nannte er bienenvater

weh weh weh unser guter kaspar ist tot heiliger bimbam kaspar ist tot

die heufische klappern in den glocken wenn man seinen vornamen ausspricht darum seufze ich weiter kaspar kaspar kaspar

warum bist du ein stern geworden oder eine kette aus wasser an einem heissen wirbelwind oder ein euter aus schwarzem licht oder ein durchsichtiger ziegel an der stöhnenden trommel des felsigen wesens

jetzt vertrocknen unsere scheitel und sohlen und die feen liegen halbverkohlt auf den scheiterhaufen
~ Hans Arp}
This is a Dada poem in German - you can try to run it through Google Transate - but either way, don't expect much sense, because that what Dada is all about.

Details and more:

BOGOMILS CEREMONIAL STAGE - detal1.jpg

^{A dear friend, Liba WS had it on display for a while in her Matahati Store in Paris after it was shown at a exhibition at Atelier Gustave, a Parisian exhibition space with a unique atmosphere, located between the Luxembourg Gardens and rue Daguerre, a stone's throw from the Foundation Cartier for contemporary art.}
1b0ce776-7fb6-4f8e-8e4d-f49f9932bdde-Matahati in Paris.jpg
^{Liba's Store was very unique, but as it currently stands, they leased the place and no longer operate the store. The handmade furniture they made is only available now by custom order for special clients.}
^{Group of artist friends meeting at Matahati in Paris, prior to our exhibition in Sedan, October 2018}

Currently this painting is at home with me in Vienna, sharing a space with a painting by my other good friend that recently joined Hive, Carrie-Ann Baade (she is in the group photo above from Matahati in Paris, on the left).