Casper David F.C. - Prophecy of The Birds - Eschatological flight (1967-1969)
Primitivism, romanticism and eschatological art:
Casper David F. C. had a very diverse and prolific output of art throughout most of his life.
He worked extensively with a wide range of mediums and is particularly well-known for his many paintings, linocuts, photographies, wood-engravings, alongside various chalk and charcoal drawings. His early exposure to romantic landscape painting, apocalyptic art, primitivism of the early 20th century along with Memento Mori and Vanitas paintings from the dutch baroque period seem to have made a lasting impact on his own artistic practice.
Despite the use of many different mediums and styles throughout his life, most of his work seem to have strong thematic, symbolic and motivic similarities. Among these are a general preference for non-human subject matter i.e. portrayals of nature, landscapes, plants, fungi etc. When humans are included as subjects in his work their importance is often subordinated to the environment they are existing in. This subordination or rather equalization of value is often achieved through the depictions of large landscapes in a wide view or by visually morphing and blending the human bodies directly into their surrounding environment. By depicting human beings as being part of nature rather than being separate from, central to or above it, he wanted to highlight our mutual interdependence, shared suffering and interconnected fate.
Casper David F.C. - Wandervögel - The Land and Its People Becoming One (1973-1976)
Common subjects, themes and reoccurring motifs across most of his art include depictions of;
a) Chaotic landscapes and environmental destruction. Often portrayed subjects in this category include human exacerbated “natural disasters” such as floods, droughts, storms, wildfires as well as various forms of direct destruction (slash and burn agriculture, excessive logging, pollution spillage etc.).
b) Degradation and decomposition of various lifeforms and organic matter. This include withering flowers, plants and weeds, spread of algal bloom, rot, fungi and mold, barren landscapes, corpse decay of various vertebrates etc.
c) Apocalyptic, mystical, occult and/or mythological events, stories and places.
d) Ruins, desolate architecture and abandoned cities, houses, settlements and environments etc.
e) Vast forest, ponds, lakes and other natural environments. These environments are often imbued with mystical, religious and/or numinous symbols to highlight “the sublime transcendental beauty inherent to nature in homeostasis".
f) Large herds or flocks of animals (including humans) acting in unison / engaging in swarm behavior. Prominent subjects include the “Black Sun” phenomena of southern Jutland, legionary ants engaging in collective foraging as well as large quantities of people engaging in hiking, migration or political activities.
g) Extreme closeups depictions of “the intricate life and societies of other species”. Subjects include the inside of ant hills, wasp- and beehives, termite mounds, portrayals of various fungi, parasites and algal blooms etc.
h) Crops, fields and harvesting along with various other agricultural activities.
These depictions tend to fall in to one of two categories. One category is dominated by gloomy, dystopian and/or apocalyptic imagery displaying the “destruction caused by contemporary agricultural practices”. The 2nd category contain romantic and idealized images of pre-industrial rural life and farming. In contrast to most of his other work these paintings often contain brighter colours, symmetrical and harmonious compositional structure along with tranquil or joyous subject matter (calm brooks, water lilies, children playing in nature etc.).
i) Portrayals of norse pagan rituals, ceremonies and myths.
These depictions often incorporate reimagined versions of runes from the elder and younger Futhark rune languages.
j) portrayals of mourning, funeral rites and burial practices of numerous cultures.
Casper David F.C. - The Splendid Web of Life - Pioneer Species (1993):
Prominent stylistic, textural and aesthetic similarities that feature heavily in his visual art include:
1) The incorporation and emphasis on blurred shapes, organic imperfection, grainy textures and a strong sense of materiality. Some of the techniques used to achieve these characteristics include;
- Frequent use of old and/or broken analogue cameras and film, a high degrees of motion blur, use of overexposed and broken film, various physical manipulations of pictures e.g. intentionally burning, burying, scratching, crumbling, tearing or otherwise damaging the initial images.
- A form of “sculptural painting” where organic and/or decomposing matter is applied directly to the canvas. This include the use of twigs, bark, leaves, dried flowers, mould, mud, fungi, dead insects etc.
- Engraving and/or cutting images directly into blocks of wood.
- Extensive use of various smearing and smudging techniques, application of various liquids directly on the canvas, the use of atypical homemade “brushes” (e.g. painting with branches).
Casper David F.C. - Prophecy of The Birds - Wandervögel (1938 - 1954)
2) The use of “swarm aesthetics”.
This generally translates into a high degree of compositional density created though a vast number of replications of the same subject (e.g. a tree or a starling) within a single image. Subtle variations generally occur between each replicated subject/entity.
Casper David F.C. - Prophecy of The Birds - Black Sun (1950-1983)
3) A general preference for the use of a quite limited color palette within each artwork. Examples of this include black and white photography, charcoal drawings as well as linocut made only using different hues of a single color (along with black).
Casper David F.C. -
vǫrðr - Eternal Return (1935 - 1939)
4) A general preference for representational art with subject matter that directly references nature and physical reality. In spite of this representational dimension he was generally quite unconcerned with naturalistic and/or photorealistic portrayals of the subject matter. Instead he tended to incorporate a relatively high degree of abstraction by distorting, transforming and manipulating the defining physical characteristics of the various subjects.
Casper David F.C. - The Green Web (1988-1990)
5) Extensive use of replication and repetition of very similar motives across multiple paintings.
Casper David F.C. - Eternal Forest - The Splendid Web of Life (1935 - 1939)