Der Tiefenglanz II (Wasserfall)

Der Tiefenglanz II (Wasserfall)

Extracted from a German TV ad for a cleaning product that promised ‘tiefenglanz’, or ‘deep gloss’, the title of this collaboration by contemporary jeweller Karl Fritsch and photographer Gavin Hipkins plays on notions of perception. Within that contrived promotional context, Fritsch explains, “the word becomes a contradiction, as gloss is something that only happens on the surface, rather than deeply.”

As art forms, photography and contemporary jewellery have both experienced periods where they have been begrudged their conceptual depth. Through this collaboration, however, the photograph departs from mass media, becoming a unique sculptural object. In turn, contemporary jewellery is detached from its association with frivolous adornment, instead introducing a critical lens on how we view the world and seek to portray ourselves in it.

Inquisitive and experimental in nature, Der Tiefenglanz is the result of a Surrealist exquisite corpse approach. Hipkins selects images from his archive of negatives, printing these as gelatin silver photographs, before passing them onto Fritsch, who mounts them onto aluminium sheets— independently and unceremoniously piercing each one with his own archive of found gemstones and fine metals amassed in his studio.

Fritsch reflects, “I explore not only what is happening on the surface of the image, but also the layers of it—the nature of the gelatin silver print (referencing metal in its own right) and the deeper materiality that supports the image, which I literally dig into and manipulate.”

–– Sian van Dyk, 2023