Penthouse (Nov. 2000)

 Artist Wolfgang Wendker juggles with fire

The Volkanisator

“They don’t make artists like him any more!” Glenn D. Lowry, Director of the Museum of Modern Art New York once said alluding to Joseph Beuys. But: one like Beuys is still living, just as much unconventional and bright, profound and unstoppable even with the most daring projects of art: Wolfgang Wendker – and he has even cooperated with Beuys founding the german Green Party.

IGADiM has a favour for some kind of mysterious gigantomanics. “Kunstwerk Erde” ( global work of art) he calls the completion of a work on Lanzarote, which began 1991 as a prelude to the Festival “Ruhrfestspiele” as a first chapter of an unplanned trilogie.

A volcano- that would truly be worthy as the crown of the whole concept! Upperworld and underworld, light and shadow all together at one. Build in a specific biotope of a volcano…

…When the amazed tourist enters the actual crater of the volcano he will have the hallucination of El Dorado. Everything all around is covered in leaf gold which – in harmonie with the forces of nature – will feature the most remarkable impressions of light and reflection….

By the way: Have You also asked yourself what the artificial name IGADiM stands for? It is a short name for Wolfgang Wendker’s motto: IchGlaubeAnDieMenschen –

I believe in people. The man from the lake of Haltern takes that only half ironically.

When Joseph Beuys used to proclaim “I get out of the art” IGADiM answered: “ I do not even get in.”