++++ Christoph Fink is a notorious jotter. Apart from that, he is almost always travelling. That is also the reason why he cannot be seen in his catalogue photo. When the photographer, Jörg Baumann, asked the Manifesta artists to stage themselves in some self-chosen way so that he could make portraits of them, the Belgian artist decided that it would appear most like himself not to be there at all.
Journeys and being in motion are the central artistic subjects of the Belgian artist, who was born in 1963. Christoph Fink calls his projects movements, which always consist of him going somewhere and jotting down along the way what happens. It does not matter whether he is travelling by train, by plane or by bicycle. It also does not matter where he is going to. It is only important what happens to him on the way.
He assiduously notes down in handwriting at certain intervals what has taken place where. Who came through the door with a cup of coffee in his hand, which hotel he checked into, in which direction he was going in a town. Occasionally he even notes down when the train conductor wishes him a good journey. All this is scribbled down on little slips of paper which are then given numbers which look secretive at first glance, but which determine nothing other than the precise intervals between the notes. He then transforms this information artistically with the aid of photographs, sculptures and diagrams. The notes themselves remain the centre of his work, however.
His contribution to Manifesta 4 is, of course, an engagement with the journey to Frankfurt and a subjective cartography of his stay as a guest. His perception of the landscape, urban space and personal encounters congeal into a description of reality which almost makes you believe that you could really come to grips with the present and catalogue it forever. This almost manic recording of what happens may make you think of the saying, "the way is the destination". But that is not the truth, of course.
Frankfurter Kunstverein, Steinernes Haus am Römerberg hoh