left Jens right Henrik | DER GREIF — left Jens right Henrik

left Jens right Still 3 | DER GREIF — left Jens right Still 3

left Jens right Still 5 | DER GREIF — left Jens right Still 5

left Henrik right Jens | DER GREIF — left Henrik right Jens

left Still 8 right Jens | DER GREIF — left Still 8 right Jens

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Jens Masmann, Cover-Sequenz 1

round the table | DER GREIF — round the table

Ping Pong

Artist Feature of Jens Masmann

Mar 12, 2025

Ping Pong, a longterm visual conversation

Ping Pong is a visual conversation between Helsinki based Henrik Duncker and me, Munich based Jens Masmann. We started our nonverbal communication after we noted links and similarities in our work when meeting in Derby 2017 at Format Festival. Reading each other’s work and learning to understand its visual vocabulary was the main framework of this project. To recognize and to decrypt the shadings and syntax of the ping pong partner‘s picture was the first serve, shaping the visual answer was the return play. This reply could have been backhanded or forehanded, could deliver a fast break or block a narrative thread and open a new one with a topspin or a smash.

Our dialogue was reality related, or more precisely related to the two different realities of our daily lives in Helsinki, Munich and elsewhere and based on classical hunting and gathering procedure to find a decent answer to the preceding picture. Traces of abstraction were introduced by chosen perspective, frame and scale of the images.

It wasn’t just meant as a game between two artists, but also a game between fiction and reality, so I added some ping pong themed still lifes to the narration to illustrate our conversation and its playing with reality. Those stills are arranged in layers with each layer showing a different relation to reality - some layers are real props, some are AI images printed out, all arranged in an objective setup and captured by classical photographic means. Some of the props play with a twisted approach to reality: for example the distorted Ping Pong rackets, which look like being created using Photoshop, are actually real wooden rackets cut with a saw and glued together.

To add another layer of a real, haptic object to the project, we put the conversation in book form, with a cover which resembles a foldable ping pong table and rubber band binding representing the ping pong net.

In the end the match fell out tied.

Thank you for the game Henrik!

Jens Masmann is part of »Guest Room: Michael Famighetti«.