No Desire To Please. By Miss Rosen

Dennis Busch definitely entertains a distinct and twisted vision. The German artist, graphic designer, and musician showcases on his website a striking display of nihilistic collage art, absurdist sculpture, abstracted photographs, and a hand-printed clothing line. There's little creative work around nowadays which is uncomfortable. This artist has no desire to please. His aesthetics are unsettling. And therefore relevant. From an apple with rotten teeth to a black-and-white photograph of a policeman doing battle with a giant pink penis painted over the image, Busch's provocative iconography is at once awkward, edgy, aggressive, sexy, silly, and sometimes even a little sentimental. Like his art, Busch does not ask simple questions or offer easy answers. His enigmatic gothic air is matched by his amusing, albeit perplexing, interpretations of their meaning. »My art should be true to itself,« says Busch. »Art should laugh about itself; I mean, laugh to death.« A self-taught artist with no formal training, Busch was born in Amstelveen, Netherlands, moved at the age of five to Bremen, Germany, where he lived most of his life, and relocated three years ago to the idyllic town of Ottersberg. Asked for his artist's name, Busch says: »Made With Hate means bombing true love missiles into castles of grey skull. It is a nice name to kick the asses of the one-dimensional Angsthasen (people who are afraid of everything). You know, people often say that handmade things are lovely and nice. But my work is not about lovely or not. I'm not interested in 'lovely.' Kunst muss stinken! (Art should reek).« Busch has been working under the radar of most media until now. »I was always able to hide behind my art. Now I feel I have the responsibility to bring my work to the world.« Busch's unconventional approach to creating art takes him beyond the boundaries of content, narrative, message, or medium. By fusing and confusing function and form, Busch's aesthetic missives offer themselves to almost any form of interpretation. Their insistently meaningless appearance, their daft and disposable nature, changes depending on the viewer's perspective. There is a sense of equality between images that conflates the great with the inadequate, making us question Busch's intentions altogether. Is Made With Hate a vomitorium for the artistic impulse, and if it is, is that in and of itself a worthwhile endeavor? It's like Busch cultivates imperfection in his work. »Yes, my work is often not perfect. Much of my work is done very fast, and it is driven by an energy that is all about capturing an idea. I need to bring across those ideas, the execution often is secondary. The question ›Is this art at all?‹ makes me often happier than when people say, '›Wow, I could never do this.‹ I'm not perfect in anything, but when you see all of my work together, it's clear there's a signature. Maybe even a message. ›Your imperfection causes my erection‹ is probably my motto. I strive for perfection in the imperfect. Maybe that's the German perfectionism in me. Ha ha.« Love it or hate it all the same, Busch doesn't seek understanding or adoration. He doesn't need followers, acolytes, or empty hype. Made With Hate is a world unto itself, one that may puzzle you, tickle you, or sicken you—and that is what makes Busch brilliant as a provocateur.