Friedensreich Hundertwasser – The Five Skins of the Ecological Man

Abstract

The Austrian architect, philosopher and artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser is an exhilarating example of the life of an ecological man. Throughout his whole life, he was in opposition to the dominating ideology characterized by growth, competition and materialism, and became one of the world’s leading designers working against mainstream ideas. His alternative to the Western tunnel vision and color blindness originated in a mechanistic worldview could be described through his lifelong project of expressing knowledge and insight in nature and society through paintings, clothes, buildings and his own lifestyle. He considered himself more as a magician of vegetation rather than an academic. Artists and art can help to promote insight, understanding and dedication, and thus inspire efforts for a better world.

Hundertwasser was a radical and fascinating example of an artist using scientific knowledge about nature as the basis for his artistic expressions. Hundertwasser’s view might help us to see reality in new ways or bring out new aspects of it, by showing us different interpretations and unexpected approaches. By going deeper into his distinction between the five skins characterizing the dynamic relationships between the individuals and their social and natural surroundings, we might see and understand the life of an ecological man in a deeper way.