Max Brück likes to build things and look for the stories behind them. The artist, who was born in 1991, lives and works in Offenbach/ Germany. He studied here at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach and also at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Poland.
How did you get into art?
I would actually classically say that the origin of my artistic activity lies in my childhood. I have always liked to build things. In addition, storytelling has a long tradition in my family. I don't mean the classic fairy tale, but rather the common telling of everyday situations. At the age of 18 I moved from a small village to Frankfurt and from there on the city and the question of ownership played a big role. Today I would also say that I am an artist because there are no alternatives. Its connected to my privileges and my rejection of a classic wage labor.
How would you describe your style? What makes your work special?
I build machines that at first seem hard and industrial. But for me it's about where the objects come from and what history they bring. Actually, I want to bring out the emotional and hidden narrative of an objects. I used to work a lot on personal memory but am moving more and more to collective thoughts and questions in my last works. I'm at a point where I don't want to put myself in the native center anymore.
How do you go about developing your work?
It often starts with a find that somehow speaks to me. The found I then first saved without having a concrete idea. I only notice "that there is electricity on it". I then do a lot of research and build only at the very end in a compact craft phase.
Who or what influences you?
I am concerned with the rapid urban change in Europe and the associated displacement of people and open spaces. I think we are used to living in a diverse and evolved environment. In my hometown of Offenbach, for example, entire city districts are being created in a very short time. There is no real time to reflect and incorporate human needs and memories. In my work I try to document these processes of change again and again.
Make us curious. What is planned next?
This is going to sound big, but I'd like to make a fresh artistic start. I'm just tired of some things. I want to find new materials and break away from old patterns. In concrete terms, the production of a catalog is on the agenda and some exhibitions for 2023 are also already planned.
Photocredit:
ABLUFT 2022, Photo: Tin Triebel
HEIZKRAFTWERK 2019, Installation, Steel, paper data shredder, briquette press
OFFENBACH-NEU 2021, Installation with Mathias Weinfurter, Steel rack, wooden poles, street lamps
0-5MM 2022, Installation, vibrating sieve, glas, archive lamps, renovation waste from several places around Katowice, PL, Photo: Kacper Krzętowski
BAUBOOM 2020, Installation, Shuttering boards, concrete, smoke pipe 400 x 340 x 90 cm Photo: Lina Katz
