Kafka in the Clouds / Kafka in den Wolken
130 x 175 cm, oil, acrylic and pastel chalk on canvas, 2026
Kafka worked days, slept afternoons, wrote nights. He called it his ‚Manöverleben‘, his maneuvering life. He apparently didn't even hate his job. He just needed somewhere else to also exist.
In this painting he hangs from a cloud, upside down, one leg hooked over the edge. Relaxed. Singing.
The creatures around him, the woman in the deck chair isn't rushing anywhere either. The monkey hangs loose. A birthday cake floats past. A spider rappels down from a cumulus cloud with udders. The lighthouse beaming – they all came from my sketchbooks. Drawn during meetings. During long train rides to presentations. During the three minutes I gave myself as a reward between tasks.
The painting is where the soul was hanging out while the body was at work.
„What's your soul doing, when you are at work?"
DE
Kafka arbeitete tagsüber, schlief nachmittags und schrieb nachts. Er nannte es sein „Manöverleben“. Anscheinend hasste er seinen Job nicht einmal. Er brauchte einfach einen anderen Ort, an dem er ebenfalls existieren konnte.
Auf diesem Gemälde hängt er kopfüber an einem Bein von einer Wolke. Entspannt. Singend.
Die Wesen um ihn herum, auch die Frau im Liegestuhl, sind entspannt. Der Affe baumelt herum. Ein Geburtstagskuchen schwebt vorbei. Eine Spinne seilt sich von einer Cumuluswolke mit Eutern ab. Der strahlende Leuchtturm – sie alle stammen aus meinen Skizzenbüchern. Gezeichnet während Besprechungen, während langer Zugfahrten zu Präsentationen. Während der drei Minuten, die ich mir zwischen Tasks als Belohnung gönnte.
Das Bild ist der Ort, an dem sich meine Seele aufhielt, während mein Körper bei der Arbeit war.
„Was macht deine Seele, wenn du arbeitest?“
Kafka in the Clouds - Lyrics
I hear the mouse klick, the clock tick
the screen shimmers
I hear the mouse klick, the clock tick
and time is rare in life
time is rare in life
but thick and massive grey in this old room
part of you is gone
playing elsewhere
what‘s your soul doing when you are at work?
what‘s your soul doing when you are at work?
what‘s your soul doing when you are at work?
what‘s your soul doing when you are at work?
(Let‘s go, find her, and find out)
Kafka hanging from the cloud
breaking monkey-free
a big lady under a mango tree
a face mask with beauty quark
riding a rollercoaster in Luna Park
I better stand stuck still so that
maybe I will learn and learn and learn
until I earn enough to swim away
my hair already pretty grey
and then I‘m gone (on the horizon)
part of you is gone
(not there) playing elsewhere
what‘s your soul doing when you are at work?
on a ride like a flea on LSD
and we adjust our crowns
hanging from the clouds
breaking monkey-free
a big lady under a mango tree
what‘s our soul doing when we work?
a face mask with beauty quark
riding a rollercoaster in luna park
So I better get my feet on the ground
I hear the mouse klick, the clock tick
the screen shimmers
I hear the mouse klick, the clock tick
and time is rare in life
time is rare in life
but thick and massive grey in this old room
part of you is gone
playing elsewhere
what‘s your soul doing when you are at work?
what‘s your soul doing when you are at work?
what‘s your soul doing when you are at work?
what‘s your soul doing when you are at work?
Kafka hanging from the cloud
breaking monkey-free
a big lady under a mango tree
a face mask with beauty quark
riding a rollercoaster in Luna Park
I better stand stuck still so that
maybe I will learn and learn and learn
until I earn enough to swim away
my hair already pretty grey
and then I‘m gone (on the horizon)
part of you is gone
playing elsewhere
what‘s your soul doing when you are at work?
on a ride like a flea on LSD
and we adjust our crowns
hanging from the clouds
breaking monkey-free
a big lady under a mango tree
what‘s our soul doing when we work?
a face mask with beauty quark
riding a rollercoaster in luna park
So I better get my feet on the ground
foot down and own my clown
and I get on the rollercoaster in the luna park
life is a well-maintained rollercoaster with certificate
coloured blinking lights in the dawn
I get on, as discussed and I trust
and adjust the saftety bar
fear turns into lust
we are hanging from the clouds
breaking monkey-free
a big lady under a mango tree
my soul is with me when we work
