Friedrich Hölderlin: Der Rhein
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- Friedrich Hölderlin: Der Rhein
- 1984
- brochure with extra leporello, print on handmade paper
- 30,2 × 22,8 cm
Julije Knifer’s leporello accompanies Friedrich Hölderlin’s hymnic poem “Der Rhein” [The Rhine], written in the early 1800s and consisting of 15 stanzas with 14 to 16 lines each. This work, part of a series about German rivers, idealizes landscape in a style of depiction similar to that of Hölderlin’s contemporary, the painter J. M. W. Turner. Knifer’s use of the meander realized as a foldable object exemplifies the walk in Hölderlin’s poem, as one can both stroll along the river and visually follow Knifer’s path. However, this meander follows a strictly conceptual route, while Hölderlin’s verse invites readers to engage in free-floating meandering in the mind. The choice of the leporello in its strict geometric cut and bend adheres to a constructivist ethos that—while in line with Knifer’s artistic outlook—embodies a contrapuntal trope in light of the text’s overall flow. W.S.