Andreas Kronthaler, Maria Ziegelböck, 2013.
Once upon a time, two people met. He is a young man, a student, not yet sure exactly what he wants, drifting in the flow of seemingly endless time. Carelessly curious, with a free, wild heart. You are more secure with a few more years of life on the way. We don’t know anything exactly about the first meeting. Let’s assume it was in a hallway or in a room of the university. Let’s assume that the daylight broke in the clouded window panes. Let’s assume that voices and laughter pervaded the place. Suppose it was he who lost his heart first. And they got to know each other. Spend time together. Never alone and yet probably (because we don’t really know) travelling on a superimposed inner track. When she leaves town, he follows her. He asks himself no questions, considers nothing, just does it and sinks into a mindless energy of what drives him: her. Love depends entirely on the loving person. The ability to love is the most important thing. To be loved is good, but to love is a basic need. His basic need above everything. What became of him didn’t matter, he wanted to love, still first.
Man: “Rolling about on this ‘art fur’ in her studio is the greatest happiness. Bitten by flea bites, I lived my dream.
Her: “I see his closeness…”
He never returned to his old life. Nothing in life or in love is harder than to make things easy. Only lovers are able to create a world together. They give new meanings to things, places and feelings. Both accept the other’s independence. They loved without asking for anything. Just like that. Being who you are in a relationship, being loved as you are, calls for trust.
Man: “Trust sounds almost banal, but in reality, it is something great. If one day, at some point, you realise: I can actually do this, trust another person.”
She: “I have never experienced a moment where I don’t trust someone.”
Not just because this is a story, they sealed that love. The two got married even though the concept of marriage didn’t excite them much.
Man: “Love hurts you as much as you are healed by it. Marriage then adds something, which is perhaps because of the promise. She and I share everything and the good gets doubled. I cannot and will not be without her. Not in my life and not in my work.”
Questions of meaning give us dignity. It is a love that nothing can extinguish, a multidimensional love that intertwines and resembles a kindred spirit. It is a loud, quiet, strong and stable love. The student, the young man has become a man with a dreamy look, who has become and would never overlook the beauty in life. He looks, every single day. He can’t get enough of her. So he writes a letter, which also makes everything available to everyone.
Man: “Dear God, how long have we known each other? This is to pay tribute to you as my collaborator, my friend and my partner, my teacher and, of course, my muse. When I recently took a long, hard look at myself, it felt like I was looking at you, how much you mean to me. Your mantras have become part of my life and my work. To this day, I think you are the best-dressed woman in any room. I love you forever.”
And, as it usually ends in fairytales, they live beyond a story. Because love is stronger than death, because love is ours, because it can make everything we think impossible.
Similarities to the love between Andreas Kronthaler and Vivienne Westwood are not fictitious. All quotes are from Andreas Kronthaler.
As featured in SLEEK 72 – LOVE. Available in print and digital here.