Dierk Maass

The works of Dierk Maass are created during his travels, or rather expeditions – for, here, comfort is not the issue, but rather his curiosity for the unknown becomes the driving force. Since more than thirty years, he has been traveling to the most remote locations: the Andes, Greenland, and the Himalayas; and was thus able to climb more than sixty summits in the top league of mountains at elevations of 6,000 to 8,000 meters. This physical exertion is rewarded with the discovery of new places, which are otherwise rarely visited by other people. The works of Dierk Maass tell stories of curiosity, loneliness, and fascination for nature. Traces of Urbanity is a search for traces in remote locations, generally far away from large cities. Dierk Maass reveals how people blaze trails through nature, how they form micro-societies, come together at particular places, and which traces they leave behind in the process. He presents forms, structures, and rules, which man develops in order to appropriate peripheral space for himself. It is a fascinating relationship between the appropriation of nature and how the landscape deals with these changes.