Christof Hintze – Artist Bio
Nothing is harder than writing about yourself and not relying on AI. Refusing the easy way has been the red thread of my life. I have never done things because they were easy, but precisely because they were hard. Like art.
When some people smile politely. When others hint, “You do have a Plan B, right?” When many make you feel, “You are crazy.” When all of that comes together, I know I am entering truly new territory, like taking the first steps across freshly fallen snow.
When things are different, new, or unknown, people prefer to fall back on what they know. I understand that. My path is different. Life is obviously a one time opportunity. I want to walk as many paths as possible.
Art has accompanied me for as long as I can remember. In it I found the freedom and the security I often wished for in life. In art there are no borders, no walls, no hurdles, no bans, and no other obstacles. When I make art, I enter a state filled with inspiration, courage, imagination, conviction, and energy.
The world of art has always been a world of sensuality for me, a world of strong emotions and astonishing discoveries. In art you keep developing. That never stops. Art is a lifelong task, and I have devoted myself to it completely for quite some time.
Because I am old. And I will most likely remain so for a long time. I like being old. I do not want to be young again. The advantages of being older clearly outweigh the rest, and I want to fill this long phase of life with meaning. I have done enough nonsense. Given our times and their negative side effects, that feels more important than ever. Until recently I was, as a creative director, the “drug dealer of the consumer society.” My job was to make people buy products they did not really need, with money they did not have, to impress people who did not truly care. Stoking consumption was my job, although I always knew consumption behaves like an addiction. It does not satisfy needs. It fuels them.
I want to end that chapter. I can use my creativity for far more important things for a long time to come. Developments in the world worry me, but mere outrage bores me. So I came to the realization that I want to do something “for” everything I love, value, and hold dear. Being against something carries the same tone, the same semantics, and the same energy, and it often strengthens what you oppose.
Be for something. Do something for it. That is how I arrived at art as my medium. Art has the power to stage this “for” in an abstract, creative, and intelligent way. My theme is positive memory culture. The more consciously I recall what I have achieved, learned, understood, and experienced over time, the more confidence I gain that I can guide what is coming in the right direction.
A positive memory culture triggers our confidence, our conviction, and our mindset. My works, in the broadest sense, quote this memory culture of my generation. Many pieces refer directly to the time that shaped us most.
My goal is to create a positive impulse, a positive environment, a positive energy. Seeing my art is like meeting good friends again, hearing a favorite song, or savoring a favorite dish.
We need as many positive impulses as possible in order to gain confidence. Our collective mindset ultimately sets the course for society. It should be the opposite of what we face every day across all channels. Our attitude is our choice. My art is therefore an initiative for a positive, creative, constructive, humanist, and democratic mindset. It is the proverbial drop on the hot stone.
But many drops become a beautiful warm summer rain, the kind everyone had been waiting for. It lets nature grow and bloom, cools pleasantly, and puts out fires. That is why I am happy to be a drop.
Keynography Art
Keynography Art is a digital art form that is created entirely without AI. Keynography Art is a digital art form created in Apple Keynote. Through the precise interplay of complex stencils, masks, and many layers, shapes, shadows, and depth are built up—like a collage, only completely digital. The result feels like a graphic relief: clear, detailed, and surprisingly three-dimensional, even though it is made from simple Keynote elements.
History of Keynography Art:
Through many years of working as a creative professional with the Apple program Keynote, which is primarily used for presentations in the creative field, I unconsciously developed a wide variety of craftsmanship skills, which led to me being able to create complex artworks. This possibility only became clear to me when I playfully tried to create a piece of art in Keynote. During this process, I continuously discovered countless possibilities and approaches—using self-created stencils, a wide range of self-built masks in combination with layers, and the percentage-based use of the single color “blue”—and with that I discovered an impressive and independent art form for myself: Keynography Art. And because it does not yet exist in this form, I gave it a name.
Origin of Keynography Art:
This art form is strongly influenced by graphic design and Op Art of the 1970s and is fundamentally nourished by a culture of positive remembrance. Through art quotes, interpretations, product design, and objects from the 1970s and 1980s.
Goal of Keynography Art:
The goal is that people can put together their individual artwork or an entire series of images, fully aligned with their own emotional priorities. In this way, they create an encounter with a culture of positive remembrance.
Space for Keynography Art:
The art series “Blue in a Square” is also very well suited for companies, hotels, restaurants, agencies, law firms, practices, and office spaces that on the one hand place special value on a high and consistent standard of aesthetics, and on the other hand want to surround themselves continuously with a culture of positive remembrance. Because it has a positive effect on the cultural climate of the entire environment—much like architecture, design, acoustics, and light. Art elevates living spaces and working environments in a wonderful way to an avant-garde level. Art convincingly shows and documents how important and how valuable human beings are within a living environment. Art is always a worthwhile investment in quality of life. Art is quality of life.