Burghard Müller-Dannhausen

A specialty, first developed in 1985 is continued on in 1986: the multi-piece picture. The internal structure of such pictures is not at all different to those of one-piece pictures. The difference lies only in the exterior format. The drama of the picture is divided over two instead of one rectangular surface. These surfaces are different in format. They maintain a discernible distance and are hung offset to each other. The impression that the picture is an accidental cutout from an endless All-over is thus emphasized. The cutout has the nature of a window. In the case of a two-piece picture it is about two fictive windows of varying shape and size. What becomes visible behind these windows form a visual unity that is only broken up for the subjective viewer through the two pieces of picture cutouts. Hence not only is the pictorial effect increased but also the opening of a poetic space is clearly broached. Two-piece pictures remain, however, limited in the years 1985 and 1986. There was much concern that the fact of the „Shaped canvas“ would emphasize the picture as an object at the cost of the optical quality and graphic quality. Incidentally, the increase in complexity continues. So there is within a single pattern a layer of compound shapes that are formed from pieces of squares or similar derivatives. The basic principle of layering as begun in 1983 remains the same. There are only one or at most two further steps in the introduction of alienation. This form of design resembles an autonomous program: fewer impulses yield a distinct effect.