Last December the German duo Quintessenz, consisting of Thomas Granseuer and Tomislav Topic, was invited to Mauritius by the “Porlwi by Light Festival”, an annual festival of contemporary culture that presents various art forms, from music, to installations, to lighting sceneries.
Quintessenz’ mural is located on the side tower of an office building in the heart of Port Louis. Although only one of them, Tomislav, was able to travel to Mauritius, they were able to work as a team thanks to technology. As recounted by the artists, Tomislav filtered incisive architecture from the surroundings, photographed them and provided Thomas with a small selection of them via download. On the other side of the world, Thomas, with the help of the photographs, created a composition and digital collage which he sent back to Tomislav. Meanwhile, the colour concept was designed in Mauritius and selected on an emotional base. In the implementation, composition and colour concept were translated on to the wall in a picturesque and abstract form.
As probed in this occasion, the duo combines the analog with the digital giving shape to Quintessenz’s abstract expressionist style where the ‘process’ is highlighted as part of the work and the focus is on colours and the emotions they manage to evoke in the viewer. As expressed by the duo: “Obviously we’re not sending any political or provocative messages. It’s more about subconscious things, the way colours and shapes bring a contrast to the outside world. It’s more about the beauty and feeling of materials and the way how they appear.”
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Author: Fran
Founder and editor of Urbanite. Street Art lover who after the finishing her MA thesis on the Mexican and Norwegian muralist movement in the 1920-50s, developed a fascination for street art and graffiti that eventually led to collaborations with different art blogs, including the creation of this one.
