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DECEMBER 29, 2008
Peter Ibruegger
By Yannis Tsitsovits
"This place is so dirty," Peter Ibruegger says of the hallway to his flat. A giggling Asian girl glances at us as we shuffle up the crumb-strewn stairs and, almost in the same long breath, he tells me, "make yourself comfortable; I'm going to go for a shit." He stresses the last word with relish, like a potty-mouthed toddler. Inside, there's barely a spec of dirt in sight. As I wait, I scan the decor, all pristine shades of cream and beige. On the shelf over the desk, a flabby ivory Buddha squats next to a pale pink sea urchin shell. The watercolour that hangs above them depicts a man with limbs akimbo, his head bent eagerly towards his hard-on.
The picture is part of Ibruegger's 'Neurotic Narcissism' series, which teems with images of self-sucking men. Their bodies are often arranged into floral or snowflake-like patterns that look like something MC Escher may have drawn if he were a gay Japanese designer. Ibruegger, however, is half Chinese, half German. In a way, his creations are hybrids themselves, toying the line between art and design. The tiles and wallpaper he showed last year at Designer's Block, for example Ð all sporting his trademark patterns of self-suckers - were part of an Arts & Crafts-inspired Victorian fireplace, complete with drawings and crockery.
When Ibruegger emerges from the bathroom, he dons a towel around his head, which somehow highlights his oriental features. His German side quickly leaps out, however, as he marches across the kitchen. "I've been finding lots of insects in here lately, so I have to be super-disciplined," he tells me. "I saw a cockroach crawling on the floor the other day." The conversation turns to bedbugs and he shows me a short but vile docu-clip of the animals in action. He looks on, fascinated, sometimes shrieking with laughter, while I pull disgusted faces. As soon as it's over I decide to broach the topic of autofellatio.
YT: When did your fascination with self-sucking men begin?
PI: I was 14 and had just nicked a copy of Penthouse from my father. At that time my English was not that good, so I pretty much had the magazine in one hand and a dictionary in the other. There is a section called 'Forum', where people write in with their sexual stories. There was one about this woman and her husband, a high-ranking military guy who enjoyed being sexually humiliated. One day, as he was wanking in front of her, she made him suck his own dick just before he was about to come. I thought the whole thing was quite hot. I became transfixed somehow by this story and came across more images of guys sucking themselves, so I started doing drawings of them. But for me it refers to other ideas as well, such as the Ouroboros, the snake eating its own tail, which is a symbol of eternity.
YT: How did you decide to arrange the bodies into patterns?
PI: I was interested in sexual identity at the time. I find popular gay culture very narcissistic and self-conscious. So I thought of mirroring all these bodies to create ornaments. I was also inspired by ornaments and patterns in Chinese temples and Arabesques in mosques.
YT: Do you like the contrast between an image that is very sexual and these Arabesque-inspired patterns?
PI: I do, actually. I think it's a powerful contrast because with this project I wanted to work with existing styles and hijack their meaning. But what I'm most interested in is the Tantric aspect of using sexuality to express spirituality. Ultimately my goal is to create a Neurotic Narcissism shrine.
YT: Tell me a bit about your shows in Japan. What did they make of your work?
PI: I've shown in Tokyo and they really liked it. I think they like it because they can see the Asian influence in it. It's quite minimal and reduced to achieve maximum effect, as with the line drawings I did for the wallpaper. The aesthetic seems very familiar to them. For me it's all about detail and the quality of the lines, which is the most important thing in Asian art. I wanted to use this to create something erotic.
YT: Japanese erotic drawings are quite explicit.
PI: They're hardcore explicit. It's easy to spot the difference between Japanese and Chinese erotic drawings because the Japanese ones have these massive, completely out of proportion penises.
YT: What about Hong Kong, which is where your mother's from?
PI: Well, Hong Kong is peculiar. It's quite different form the rest of China. But in Germany, for example, it's very common to see your parents naked, whereas in Hong Kong it's quite unusual. The whole body culture is more repressed. Take Paris Hilton, for example, who became such a big star through a sex tape that leaked into the public and turned her into this desirable icon. It was a powerful PR tool for her. In Hong Kong it's the opposite. Have you heard of the Edison Chen scandal?
YT: No.
PI: He used to be this big pop star in Hong Kong. He got his laptop repaired and the technician copied lots of his personal files with photos of him having sex with other pop stars. We're talking about people who had multi-million dollar deals with Disneyland, who were now shown in quite explicit poses, sucking him or getting fucked in the ass. They all nearly lost their contracts and he was forced into a public apology and withdrew from the limelight.
YT: Do you think of what you do as exhibitionistic?
PI: I can see how the way I present certain things may come across as a provocation to people who are easily offended.
YT: Have you had any hostile responses?
PI: My first exhibition at the Pineal Eye, six years ago, got shut down by the police. People could see it from the pavement and some locals complained about it. The police then came over to have a look and they had a word with the owner. Apparently you need a special licence to display erotic images in a shop window.
YT: What was the experience of selling at the Barbican's 'Seduced' exhibition like?
PI: It was great. I had my own corner in the shop, which was really good exposure for me. I guess what I do lends itself to design as well as fine art, so I'm used to exhibiting at design fairs and galleries and selling at shops.
YT: What was your latest show at Exhibit Gallery about?
PI: 'The Desire of Impermanence' is partly based on an amateur Austrian photographer (identified only as ;E. J.') who took pictures of many Hitler Youth boys until he was arrested for indecency. When he passed away in the late 1980s people found a collection of books that were all cut out and made into boxes. Inside were his carefully hand printed photographs of naked boys from the 1930s and onward... I took the photos as a reference for my drawings. I became obsessed with how he tried to blend into society and yet continued to pursue his passion. I think that repression creates a sort of persistence. The repressed will always find ways to express itself.
YT: Any plans for the near future?
PI: I have an exhibition at the Temporaere Kunsthalle in Berlin (4-6 January 2009). I,ll be showing some lamps, which are the result of my collaboration with the designer Susanne Philippson. At first sight they appear to be quite minimal and serious, but they're actually quite quirkily designed, as the light switch is the lampshade itself. So as you unfold them to switch them on, light slowly emerges from the lamp, exposing my trademark naked self-sucking men, which are perforated into the fabric.
Yannis Tsitsovits.
Links
YANNIS TSITSOVITS
PETER IBRUEGGER
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Peter Ibruegger portrait by Sinisa Savic
'Neurotic Narcissism Deity', water colour on paper
(photography by Toby Summerskill)
'The Philosphical Tree', patchwork tapestry, detail
(photography by Toby Summerskill)
'The Philosphical Tree', patchwork tapestry
(photography by Toby Summerskill)
'Neurotic Narcissism' tile, earthenware and metallic glaze
(photography by Carlos Draisci)
'Neurotic Narcissism Web', pencil on paper
(photography by Toby Summerskill)
'The Officer', ink on watercolour paper
(photography by Toby Summerskill)
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