On The Historical Memories In Kiefer’s Artworks

The unique feature of Kiefer’s works of art is that it prompts the collective memory of German history and culture.Kiefer’s works are not about forgetting,but about memory,that is to say,we can regard Keefer’s art as the presentation of the historical memory of German war and disaster,which also constitutes the depth and seriousness of Kiefer’s art.Myths and legends constitute a very important theme in Kiefer’s works of art,especially German mythology,ancient Jewish mythology,ancient Egyptian mythology and Gnosticism,which are deeply permeated in Keefer’s artistic thinking.Because reality cannot be directly touched,Keefer can only express his views with the help of mythical metaphors.Kiefer’s art explores religion and shows religious stories,bringing religious stories and symbols into his works,and creating some connection with the present situation,thus arousing our deep thinking.Kiefer’s work is largely a reflection on national identity,and we are always able to identify some kind of "Germanism" in Kiefer’s work,although Kiefer tries to keep it from being narrow.In this way,German ideology and culture naturally become the object of Keefer’s works often borrowed and expressed.If we want to correctly grasp the spiritual connotation of Keefer’s works of art,we must put Keefer’s works and aesthetics in a special cultural and political context,that is,in German culture after the period of the Third Reich.He believed that by facing up to that history and exploring its real roots,fascism would not return.Ruins are images that often appear in Kiefer’s works,and Kiefer’s emphasis on them is inseparable from Kiefer’s attempt to present German historical memories.Ruins symbolize the destruction and passage of memory,things and events that once existed and now no longer exist,while ruins lie between existence and no longer exist,and they reenter the structure of our life today as a historical memory.Ruins are not only traces of the past,but also evidence of the destruction and abandonment of things.More importantly,ruins may also be a new beginning,a dialectical of destruction and rebirth,and a past as a future.