wahrheit ist wahrnehmung 2017

Curator: Looking at Malte Sonnenfeld’s 2017 mixed-media piece, "wahrheit ist wahrnehmung"—which translates to "truth is perception"—what’s your immediate take? Editor: The bright orange hand with crossed fingers practically leaps off the canvas. It’s bold, graphic. But also, something about the layering creates an emotional unease. Curator: Interesting. The gesture of crossed fingers, especially with the words “Truth is Perception,” evokes layers of meaning, doesn’t it? From a psychological standpoint, we can see the universal symbol of breaking a promise and examine the concept of truth. How our subjective understanding, our perception, alters or bends it. Editor: Definitely. I see a striking juxtaposition in the layering of acrylics, inks, and gestural painting techniques with graffiti art style and a Pop Art sensibility. It’s not photorealism; instead, this piece’s strengths seem to be embedded in color contrast and bold linear shapes to represent something fundamental in an eye-catching format. The texture is dynamic. Curator: Yes, and it taps into the broader human experience with deception and altered reality. I think of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Sonnenfeld uses this charged symbol— the hand, a symbol for actions and agreements —as a framework for commentary on a larger social dynamic, how readily perception supplants reality. Editor: I appreciate how the raw execution enhances the meaning. This feels very deliberate – this isn’t so much about mastering realism, it’s about a powerful symbolic statement of an open hand belying that openness with fingers crossed to reflect an unreliable representation. There’s some element of irony at work to explore themes of Figuration while subverting the classic form. Curator: Ultimately, I’m left considering how societal truths can be bent, shifted, or outright fabricated through the power of persuasion, propaganda, and plain human fallibility. The crossed fingers serve as a visual cue to question everything. Editor: Yes, and for me, focusing on its construction helps decode the way that final message impacts us by highlighting both visual immediacy and inherent visual deceptions that our perception can't help but bring to any individual's experience.