STÜLP* PRINCIPLE
In a time when automation and optimization have become central goals of our ways of life, work, and society, it is essential not to lose touch with the original. A flawless world would be a world without humans — for humanity remains fallible: mortal, hungry, tired, conscientious. It is precisely here that its creative power lies. STÜLP recognizes this system-relevant, non-optimizable potentiation factor as the foundation of creativity — and makes it fruitful.
The apple must be broken to reveal its core.
The Stülp Principle is a transdisciplinary theory developed through artistic research. The artwork explores transformation processes between rupture and potential, framed by a conceptual model called the “Stülp Spiral.” The principle reframes flaw (“Makel”) not as a deficit but as a seed of systemic and creative transformation. This principle merges elements of system theory and artistic practice to offer an epistemic structure of emergent change.
The STÜLP Principle is an artistic way of re-integration. Where people are reduced to recipients of help — the elderly, the unemployed, the chronically ill — STÜLP sees dormant potential. Not through compensation, but through potentiation: via active participation in meaningful processes, beyond mere inclusion.
A dog that guards, a cat that hunts — their nature is not fulfilled in passivity. Likewise, humans flourish not in protection alone, but in shared creation. Whether in senior homes, youth rehabilitation, or long-term unemployment — STÜLP questions a structure where responsibility is not a burden, but a right. A right to shape, to contribute, to matter and to understand growth as transformation. Where weaknesses are not the opposite of power, but its origin.
Through ME WERK BERLIN and the upcoming publication platform, LIME is developing tools for self-evaluation and artistic inversion — for institutions and social systems.
STÜLP invites cooperation across disciplines — for inquiries, invitations, or cooperative proposals, please write to:
