Dear Reader,
The 17th Steel Sculpture and Fine Arts Symposium of Kecskemét, metal arts workshop, was launched on November 2, 2020 organized by K-ARTS Arts Foundation and for this occasion Kész Industry and Innovation Park once again opened its gates for artists wishing to experiment. Although the workshop had to be reinvented given the pandemic situation, the symposium was organized in an effort to preserve the continuity of Kész Group’s arts patronage program and to support arts, while keeping everyone’s health and safety in focus. This year saw a reduced number of participants manufacturing metal fine arts in Kecskemét.
The participants in KASZ+ 2020 – 17th Steel Sculpture and Fine Arts Symposium of Kecskemét were: Andor Becskei, Ágnes Eperjesi, Gyula Majoros, Dániel Marcell Németh, Antal Plank, Attila Pokorny.
The six artists - referred to as “the Six” - used iron, steel, stainless steel and composite materials for fabricating their artworks but the artists have also made attempts at 3D printing. The extensive technical background and technological diversity allowed the artists to experiment and try special designs. The art creators were supported in their efforts by engineers - specialists in the steel structure trade.
Rarely do artists have a chance to work with professional welding power supplies, plasma torches and have an abundant supply of tools in the workshop. Today, even artists can be design engineers and have 3D design and parametric shape generation at their disposal. A part of the work process is for the artists to create their artwork by using CNC-machined steel components and laser-cut parts.
Apart from the Six helping one another and learning the tricks of the trade from each other, it was probably the industrial environment that gave them the most stimuli. This is also why this initiative of long years carries importance: inspiration provided by industrial background = pioneering and innovative creations in industrial art.
The topic of this year for the workshop was “TRANSFORMATION” as a symbol of transition and rejuvenation:
The chosen buzzword for our KASZ+ workshop in 2020 was a universal notion that provides various ways of interpretation with which we wanted to point out that changes and transformation were needed in almost all areas of human activities. The events in years past, the immeasurable and irrecoverable destruction that stormed our natural resources and world heritage sites have had a sobering effect on the society and the private sector alike. However, it is not enough to just detect the problem, we must act to change. We must recognize the destructive effects the anthropocene epoch has had on our planet, the responsibility of “fast industry” , the consumer society and how selective and one-dimensional information modern man, living in a digital shell, has about his actual physical environment. What we need is not purely an exchange of values and a change of perspective but also genuine transition: TRANSFORMATION. The constant strive for comfort, the discontent and wastefulness of the individual must be driven towards a much greater sense of mindfulness to learn how to co-exist with and not exploit nature: “Live and let live!”
The artworks created at this workshop will be first displayed on an online platform, however, efforts are being made to allow visitors and art lovers to experience them in real life when situation takes a turn for the better.
