Norbert Then
artist
On Sunday I looked like this
Very innocent
decorated by my grandma
1964 ca...?
She loves me. She doesn't love me.
"I love children's work; it is free and imaginative.
Like them, I play with form, light and color, with sound and space"
How did you get into art?
My passion for art stems from my childhood. I grew up in a small, romantic village in Franconia, where every hill had a chapel, cathedral, ruin, or old "robber baron castle" on it, which fascinated me even then. Through my parents' stories about how these came to be and the history behind them, I was introduced to art at a very young age.
That simply fascinated me. Even as a child, I tried to play around and express myself somehow. Over the years, I gained more and more life experience, and everything evolved.
How did you come up with the dream catcher?
When I was 23/24, I realized I could draw, so I first tried to express myself through painting. My background was actually in metalworking, which eventually turned out to be an advantage, but I started by creating a lot of paintings, some of which are already 35 years old and hang in my studio. During my time in development work in Africa, I became fascinated by African forms—the "lost form." This was the reason why I then began expressing myself through sculpture. My initial figure with a jute sack gradually evolved into the current form of my dream catcher. First, the arms were downwards, then I pulled the arms up, and I gradually refined the shape.
I've been working with this character for 20 years and have developed about 100 different characters...
How did the Kunstklärwerk become your studio?
Twenty years ago, I leased the wastewater treatment plant. It started as an empty, round room, surrounded by gravel. Since then, I've been trying to build my studio together with my family and friends; it's simply impossible to do it alone. I'm also often supported by the city of Stadtlohn, who have never put a stumbling block in my way, and we still have many visions for the future that we're now tackling.
Outtakes - Forgotten the most important thing!!!
Actually, it all started with the ball... something particularly beautiful for me...
How could I have forgotten that??? That's how it all began... The sphere has always been the most beautiful shape in the world for me, which is why you see a thousand spheres in the sewage treatment plant... for sure! And the hall is round... what a coincidence...
