Description: Has Werner Büttner's world of images indeed grown funnier, more colorful, or should one, follow-ing Kristian Vistrup Madsen's observations, consider it to be invariably gloomy and oppressive? The latter certainly applies to a work such as »Brüder (Kain + Abel)« from 1983, but no longer in such -exclusivity to his most recent works. Here, the bitter singing of »No-Future« by the protagonists of the 1980s is accompanied by a good -portion of ironic melancholy and caustic mockery. His use of color has also changed, the earthy tones giving way to a certain signal-like quality, yet without severing the connection to his earlier works. But what led to such a melancholy softe-n-ing of his worldview? Is it a general consequence of getting older? Or is it based on the more specific consciousness of now actually being too old for the »not-wanting-to-become-like-the-old-folk« (in the 1980s)? Or does everything have its rather simple reason in the realization: »Alcohol (dis-)solves everything«, as Rainald Goetz's protagonist Raspe says in his novel »Irre« from 1983? Incidentally, he added to this a consid-eration that mud-dled up Nietzsche (»Become who you are«) and a former advertising slogan (»You can stay as you are!«): »I don't want to become who I am!« A shining light comes on which of course Kristian -Vistrup Madsen also sees: Self-knowledge out-shines everything, but still can hardly prevent that madness and confusion continue to play their games with us.
