“Bis zum Mond und zurück“, sculpture made out of gold from wedding rings, 40 x 35cm, 3371 grams

Karma Aurum

Gold, the radiant adrenalin, a sun among the stones. Desired and worshiped. It is the embodiment of that what man strives for. Behind everything of value we find gold. It drives a man to climb naked into a river so that he could hold the shiny element in his hand. It drives men to kill for it, so that they can own it and hoard it and then invent stories to turn it into a hero. Men lay gold at the feet of their brides, in order to manifest what is normally an intangible value. It is the crowning glory of conquest. But what once flourished can wilt as love deviates from lovers. Promises are dissolved, but the gold remains as a testament to an erstwhile pledge. Even when the wedding rings come off, the gold returns into circulation. Because gold is limited and each wedding ring consists of countless older generations – over time the human energy charge on the metal has multiplied exponentially. The collective consciousness of humanity glimmers. No, it shines. Karma Aurum.

Jörg Domeisen understands this. And raises questions with his sculptures. How to respond to this? Here we are dealing with a contemporary work of art in which the artist must not explain the philosophy of the piece to explain his work. What happens here seldom happens in art: the viewer becomes the philosopher.

- Michael Steiner