Klaus Staudt

dem Lichte entgegen, 1989

Klaus Staudt belonged to the the artists around the ‘Zero’ group, but as well, like e.g. Max Bill and Richard Paul Lohse, he can be grouped with the systematic-constructive artists working in the post-war period. One characteristic feature of Constructive Art is researching optical-aesthetic phenomena using the methods of exact science. Staudt treats light not as a mere phenomenon, but as a concrete material that is an essential component for the effect of his work. A certain number of micro-elements (prisms, bars, rhombuses etc.) are arranged evenly and without hierarchy, usually on a square ground. This creates a structural field including a number of levels, as the micro-elements are sometimes arranged on, sometimes behind a support – frequently milky or transparent acrylic glass. The resultant spatial impression is made more profound by the fact that light and shade produce a rhythmic interplay on the structured surface. The material relief structure is only revealed in its full three-dimensional quality by the effect of the light.