The grit of cacti and the drumbeat of time shape a sculptor’s life philosophy

The German-born artist Klaus Rinke finds inspiration in and harmony with cacti. Indeed, these resourceful creatures, which grow slowly and – per Rinke – evoke the German soul with their prickly exteriors and soft interiors, surround his Venice, California studio. Evoking Rinke’s droll, absurdist sensibility, the short documentary The Cactus of Klaus (2023) takes viewers inside his perspective on life and art as framed by his decades-long cactus obsession. Through this construction, Rinke’s idiosyncratic worldview emerges – one that’s centred on vitality through creativity, and moored to the Earth and the steady drumbeat of time.