Blue Whale – by Michael and Anna Rofka

To realize our artworks we need the help of the people. We want to create Blue Whales as big impressive sculptures made of plastic bags. We wish that people bring all kinds of plastic bags. Every giver will get something. We think for example about cards with original drawings of a whale.

First, we’ll make a construction like a skeleton from battens which will be covered with a light wire mesh. Then we cover all with plastic bags. The Sizes of the “Whales’ depend from the spaces of the exhibition. An original Blue Whale can be 30 m long. But may e we will make more baby whales when we realize them indoor.

The Blue Whale is like a symbol of the sea. The Whale-sculptures of plastic are like collectors of plastic bags that will not end in the sea.  It’s important that people join the idea. So it will be a common artwork. There is also a poetry aspect. At every place of the exhibitions, we create a new whale. So there will be an international whale family.

Anna & Michael Rofka are a married German-Ukrainian artist pair. Anna has studied in Ukraine at Lugansk and Kiev. Michael has studied at a free academy near Stuttgart in Germany. They have very diverse art educations and develop and realize big projects together. For example, as a team, they took part in an environmental art project at Keelung/ Taiwan, organized by the National Museum of Marine Science & Technology at Keelung. There was also a land art project in Sweden (www.landart.se), organized by the artists’ centre at Goteborg and a land art project at the Austrian-Swiss border along the river Rhine. They got awarded for an large outdoor installation “Black cloud – White cloud” at the international exhibition “moved wind” near Kassel, Germany. (www.bewegter–wind.de). There is much more: Sculpture symposia, Anna took part at the art Biennale of Beijing, Michael at the Sculpture Biennale at Astana, Kazakhstan. In 2013, Michael has already realized a big ‘fish” made of bamboo at the Chenglong Environment Art Project in Taiwan. It was 11m long and visitors could walk inside the “Milkfish” (The name of the model from nature).

The artist duo is both teaching children and young people at the art school of Donaueschingen at the academy for children and young people in Singen and members of a nature-school, which organizes school projects and further education formats. (www.naturschule-region-bodensee.de)

For Anna & Michael Rofka working on the theme is important as it is an aesthetic experience for all participants. There is also fun creating such big artworks together, but it makes you also remember the beauty of the sea. If people can participate in an active way they will never forget the experience. There will be something like a souvenir too. The artworks show that a lot  of people can create something big, also if everyone brings only a small piece (like a plastic bag). All together is a big performance that people will never forget. There will time for talks and discussions too.

Homepage: www.europeanatelier-michaelrofka.de.

 

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