DENKSTAHL’s work So What (orig. Na und) combines comedy, rebellion and tragedy in a cynical way. It is somewhat a tragic comedy; I dare say that this is an analogy to life.

»It doesn’t matter«, »so what«, »nevermind«, »it is not important« – many arguments have probably started in this way. But nothing is irrelevant, nothing is unimportant and nothing is meaningless!

Statements like these can be a sign of weakness, an unwillingness to make decisions and a rejection of responsibility. Perhaps a signal that your counterpart, your friend, your companion, has finished with everything and is no longer even bothered to form an opinion because everything seems completely irrelevant to them?!

The controversial topic of suicide, committing, breaking free, or self-inflicted termination of life is only dealt with superficially. The highest of all perceptible feelings is the one-day mourning for a celebrated star who has ended their own life and gets media attention due to given popularity.

Less paid attention to are those who quietly sit imprisoned in their thoughts and have long since given up. Are they called outsiders, rebels, non-conformists or problem citizens? It is not about a clear categorization and definition of the terms. The problem is elsewhere.

How about the affected? The sympathizer of death accepts the tragedy, does not dare to talk about it, feels shame or does not care about anything, so that not a single conversation with anyone seems to be worthwhile. So What describes this mood, but not only; more wholly, the mood of society in which »a smile is put on that face« until the bitter end, for which one is responsible, because »a day without a smile is a day lost« is also mirrored here.

Charlie Chaplin knew that, the Joker knows that, the artist DENKSTAHL knows that, you know that, I know that.