Tag: Sculpture

Cosmic Generator, by Mika Rottenberg (1976 Buenos Aires, lives in New York); artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Material: Asian shop, video (ca. 20 min.), plastic objects, street sign Mika Rottenberg’s (* 1976 Buenos Aires; lives in New York) film installations explore the seduction, magic, and desperation of our hyper-capitalistic, globally connected reality. Female workers produce goods in strange factories that follow elaborate manufacturing rationales. Rottenberg’s cinematic works, which have a surrealistic aesthetic and are rigidly structured in a spatial sense, emphasize the interrelation between labour, economics, and the production of value, and how our affective relationships are increasingly monetized. The artist weaves documentary elements with fiction to create complex allegories for the living conditions experienced within our global systems. See more here: https://www.skulptur-projekte.de/#/En/Projects/2017/837/ROTTENBERG

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Benz Bonin Burr, by Cosima von Bonin + Tom Burr (1962 Mombasa & 1963 New Haven); artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Material: Low-loader, wooden crate, safety ropes Strategies of cooperation, appropriation, and compilation are characteristic of Cosima von Bonin’s (* 1962 Mombasa; lives in Cologne) mixed-media installations. She navigates the viewer through a sea of references with her subtle humour, bringing influences ashore without any apparent effort and involving artist friends and historical perspectives in her exhibitions. Energized by Conceptual Art and Pop Art, her work keeps touching on key figures like Martin Kippenberger or Mike Kelley and makes countless references to cinema, literature, music, fashion, design, and lifestyles. In this way, her artwork presents itself more as the result of traditional tendencies, networks, and recurrences than as an original, individual artistic gesture. The large-scale arrangements, often in the form of animal motifs, mirror the conventions and rules of the art world and address von Bonin’s artistic identity within a network of relationships, dependencies, and role models. See more here: https://www.skulptur-projekte.de/#/En/Projects/2017/818/Von+Bonin_BURR  

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Marginal Frieze, by Sany (Samuel Nyholm) (1973 Lund); artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Fallande ting, Pyrographic series in the Münster / Marl urban space Sany’s work Marginal Frieze for the Skulptur Projekte links two different areas. On the one hand, a multi-part mural is being exhibited in the urban space, while, on the other, his cartoons are part of the exhibition’s accompanying advertising campaign: his work is being circulated as film trailers, on banners, bags, flyers, and stickers—as a patchwork of subliminal media fragments with a wide range of influence in the public space. For his Fallande ting Sany is installing large-sized pyrographies on the walls of several buildings in Münster and Marl, showing individual falling figures. For this project he turns to familiar characters from his cosmos of images: with Estrid, the Valkyrie, and Yggdrasil, the World Tree, he re-interprets two figures from Nordic mythology, who are joined by the monkey Apis and the Greek artist Stavros. See more here: https://www.skulptur-projekte.de/#/En/Projects/2017/832/SANY

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Sculpture, by Peles Empire; artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Material: Dibond, ceramic tiles, galvanized steel, Jesmonite Peles Empire are: Katharina Stöver * 1982 Gießen, lives in Berlin Barbara Wolff * 1980 Fogarasch, lives in Berlin For Skulptur Projekte, Peles Empire has erected a gable, nearly eight metres high, in the immediate vicinity of the city’s historic centre. The gable’s tiled façade shows an image of the castle’s crumbling terrace as well as the supports that keep it from collapsing. The façade is braced by poles and propped against a stepped volume, whose surface is covered with black-and-white streaks, mimicking a stone surface. This surface visually anticipates the Jesmonite bar inside. Both are black and white and thus create the effect of a photocopy. The object, which is located in a carpark, is not just for viewing from the outside—it can also be entered. The first impression suggests some intrinsic value, but this is misleading: what looks magnificent and solid

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Les masques célèstes [Celestial Masks], by Hervé Youmbi (1973 Bangui); artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Material: Wood, glass beads, wood glue, cotton thread, silicone Youmbi’s installation is located in the disused Überwasser cemetery, near General Ludwig Roth von Schreckenstein’s grave. Suspended among the trees, four massive masks appear to hover some ten metres from the ground. Another four, smaller masks are mounted directly on the trees. Les Masques célèstes incorporates iconography from popular Western capitalist culture: immediately apparent is the Ghostface mask—from the American horror film Scream (1996)—which was in turn inspired by Edvard Munch’s 1893 painting. This icon of fear is juxtaposed with animistic tokens from many traditional African cultures. According to Youmbi, these animate the spirits of the dead by inviting them to enter and possess the masks during celebratory ceremonies. Youmbi commissioned the masks from workshops in Cameroon. His intervention at a Christian burial site, a location for the commemoration of the dead, raises questions about religion, spirituality, and superstition. Youmbi’s work highlights the objects and

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Beliebte Stellen / Privileged Points, by Nairy Baghramian (1971 Isfahan); artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Material: Lacquered bronze, metal, lashing chain, tensioning devices, rubber Baghramian chose one of the top locations in Münster for her work Beliebte Stellen / Privileged Points: the Erbdrostenhof (a baroque palace built by Johann Conrad Schlaun in 1757). In the palace forecourt she has placed an elegantly curved bronze landmark, consisting of three slender but heavy, interconnecting elements. They are held together by visible clamps and propped up in a few spots on the courtyard’s cobblestones. The open circle, measuring a diameter of approximately five metres, is explicitly interrupted by the dimensions of the objects, whose bronze casting makes for an optimal result. In the palace’s rear courtyard (which can be accessed from the St Servatii church square), six similar sculpture elements are piled up and can be used to assemble two more Beliebte Stellen / Privileged Points. See more here: https://www.skulptur-projekte.de/#/En/Projects/2017/816/BAGHRAMIAN

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Nietzsche’s Rock, by Justin Matherly (1972 New York); artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Material: Concrete, fibreglass, ambulatory equipment, wood, metal Justin Matherly finds the visual prototypes for his sculptures in books and writings, especially in philosophical texts and the ancient classics, which he refers to both in form and content. In many cases, he even names them specifically in his titles. His porous and often fractured sculptural interpretations made of cement, plaster, and plastic are supported by medical walkers. His work is complemented by photographs that are closely linked to the objects. Matherly’s sculpture on the grassy area along the promenade looks as if it had fallen from the sky. The surface of the material exhibits cracks and holes in many places. The walkers clearly protrude in some spots and in others completely vanish inside the grey material. As ready-mades or everyday objects, they assume the function of a pedestal and also become part of the sculpture. In the artist’s conception, these objects

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Momentary Monument – The Stone, by Lara Favaretto (1973 Treviso, lives in Turin); artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Material: Tittlinger coarse-grained granite; Dimensions: ca. 420 × 140 × 155 cm For Skulptur Projekte 2017, this series will be continued on the Promenade and in the neighbouring town of Marl, in each case with a hollowed-out granite boulder. At first sight, the four-metre-high stone seems to be an alien object or a glacial erratic. And yet, when you circle the boulder, it is evident that it was wrought by hand, which raises questions as to its function. There is a little slot that money can be dropped into. At the end of the exhibition the stone will be destroyed, the resulting gravel reused, and the collected money donated to charity. The artist has decided to give the money to the organization Hilfe für Menschen in Abschiebehaft Büren e. V. (offering help to people facing deportation). See more here: https://www.skulptur-projekte.de/#/En/Projects/2017/826/FAVARETTO Apparently a more sculptorical work, but much more. Fully integrated beside

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Firebuilding (Burn the Formwork), by Oscar Tuazon (1975 Seattle); artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Material: Concrete, wood, fire In Münster, Tuazon has installed an object made of concrete in an industrial wasteland along a canal—an undefined plot of land which is used by various groups of people. The object serves as a public fireplace. The cylindrically shaped sculpture can be used for barbecuing, warming up, and as a look-out. The work’s focal point is the chimney-like pillar with its two integrated fireplaces—its reduced form is the consequence of its function. A spiral stairway with large steps rises around the hearth, encircling two-thirds of it. In turn, the stairway is bounded by a lateral wall. The vitiated air from the separate fireplaces is conveyed to the chimney through a system of pipes beneath the stairway. The small sections of wooden boarding that were used in the construction can be removed and burned as well. The crane is not part of the work, but it helps

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OFF OFD, by Christian Odzuck (1978 Halle); artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Material: Concrete, steel, wood, spolia Christian Odzuck (* 1978 Halle; lives in Düsseldorf) takes as his focus architectural fragments as well as urban building processes. His basic artistic approach is the reuse and further development of building materials, which he reassembles as accessible structures. Original buildings and individual elements, reused materials, or the memories thereof are visible and aesthetically tangible for visitors. The point of departure for his piece is Münster’s former revenue office, the Oberfinanzdirektion (OFD) building, demolished in 2016/17. Built in the 1960s from plans developed by the architecture firm HPP Heinrich-Petschnigg & Partner. Odzuck placed his work OFF OFD on the now abandoned space. Getting his bearings from the clear, modern use of form in the now demolished administrative building as well as from its former dimensions and floor plan. The centrepiece of the work is the stairway, which is conspicuous in an architectural sense. Originally, it was at the

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Matrix, by CAMP (Mumbai); artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Black cable, monitors, switches, speakers, electronics Just amazing; behind glass walls the are some screens with videos, images and messages, and you can manage it with some control buttons. But last one is very peculiar; apparently nothing happens when you press the button, but in a building in the other side of the street in one windown an actor or actress activates whenever you press the button. But you have to realize it! On the window messages are displayed, and other actions take place, including the actor taking photographs of people that take photographs. Really weird. CAMP creates a metaphor for systems of participation and support, from the access to electricity—which is now privately owned almost everywhere across the globe—to digital communication and the immanent possibilities of manipulation. CAMP is an interdisciplinary studio currently made up of Shaina Anand, Ashok Sukumaran, Zinnia Ambapardiwala, Simpreet Singh, and other actors. It was

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Sketch for a Fountain, by Nicole Eisenman (1965 Verdun); artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Sketch for a Fountain, 2017, Skulptur Projekte 2017 Material: Bronze, plaster, basin In Münster Eisenmann has created a fountain installation with several figures in the middle of the Promenade. The ensemble of five larger-than-life figures, made of bronze or plaster, is casually grouped around a basin. The nude figures of voluminous proportions, which cannot readily be assigned to one gender, take various poses. The relaxed formation is accompanied by narrative moments: in the middle of the water, a self-assured nude extends its body skywards in exhibitionist fashion, while the other figures chill around the basin, sunbathing or lost in thought as they gaze into the reflections in the pool. Wind and weather cause the group to age slightly over the course of the exhibition. See more following the link: https://www.skulptur-projekte.de/#/En/Projects/2017/824/EISENMAN

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Workshop #7 How to Live Together and Sharing the Unknown, by Koki Tanaka (1975 Tochigi),; artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Material: Action and workshops, installation of the video documentation in four rooms For Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017, Tanaka asked eight residents of Münster from various generations and different cultural backgrounds to participate in workshops for ten days. Based on Roland Barthes’s book of the same title, the central question was, how to live together? Tanaka invited contributions from ‘facilitators’ acting as temporary guests and sources of inspiration. A total of eleven video sequences document things such as the night spent together on mats in the gymnasium, cooking a wartime recipe, the interview and shoot with a globalization expert from Syria, and physical exercises in an old nuclear bunker. https://www.skulptur-projekte.de/#/En/Projects/2017/844/TANAKA   

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In Our Time, by Gerard Byrne (1969 Dublin); artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

In Our Time 2017, Skulptur Projekte 2017 Material Video, unspecified duration Gerard Byrne (* 1969 Dublin; lives in Dublin) uses his audio and video recordings and his photographs to scrutinize how media are constructed and manipulated, for example, in documentary footage, photographs, interviews, and writings. He examines how historical concepts and myths promote the possibilities of defamation and the rise of fictional facts, and how they dominate an evaluation of cultural production and debates about present and future socio-political events. His films appear in high-end formats, they steal the show with their excellent picture quality, their cinematography and decor, and the acting, speaking performances, and entertaining dialogues they contain. And yet they are fragmentary in nature. Byrne montages sequences from documentary footage and restaged scenes that he interrupts with black screens and spatially dramatic cuts, as well as close-ups of faces or functional objects. The works reveal themselves in installations

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HellYeahWeFuckDie, by Hito Steyerl (1966, München); artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

3-channel-video installation, environment, 4 min., HD video (2016) Hito Steyerl’s films, installations, and writings come out of a systemic way of thinking and working, in which artistic production and the theoretical analysis of global social issues are closely linked. Steyerl investigates the interaction and synthesis of technological and artistic imagery, for example, at the level of visual mass culture—and its function within the overall dispositif of technocracy, monetary policy, the abuse of power, and violence. See more following the link: https://www.skulptur-projekte.de/#/En/Projects/2017/843/STEYERL    

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3 V, by Aram Bartholl (1972 in Bremen) artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Another interesting temporary installation: Turning on LED’s with the energy of candles. Just amazing idea. Aluminium, acrylic glass, thermoelectric generator, electronics, LEDs, tea candles, steel chain in the Underpass at the palace square Schlossplatz 46, 48143 Münster. Bartholl’s installations in Münster are all based on thermoelectric devices that directly transform fire—the primeval medium of communication—into electrical energy. https://www.skulptur-projekte.de/#/En/Projects/2017/817/BARTHOLL  

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Nuclear Temple, by Thomas Schütte (Oldenburg, 1954) artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Thomas Schütte’s (* 1954 Oldenburg; lives and works in Düsseldorf) placement of his figural and architectural sculptures spotlights inconspicuous places or sites that have been forgotten. The development of his works is also influenced by references to architecture, history, and stories. At the same time, the references have a disturbing effect: they are strangely reinterpreted or interrupted by the surprising and thought-provoking motifs. In this way, the viewers’ awareness of urban space and the diversity of public life is sensitized. Urbanity is a key theme in Schütte’s artwork—he has been contributing to the discussion of art in public spaces since the 1980s. Yet he prefers to keep his distance to conceptual matters. In fact, his works are accessible to viewers even without contextual knowledge. This has been the second contribution of Schütte to the Münster Skulptur Projekte. The first one, the two cherries, was done in 1987, and has become

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Harsh Citation, Harsh Pastoral, Harsh Münster, by Ei Arakawa (Fukushima) artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Ei Arakawa’s (* 1977 Fukushima; lives in New York) art is mostly performative and includes everyday objects, works of art, and people as his actors, as it were, with each accorded an equal footing. Music and lyrics play an important role in his installations and performances, as he draws on the artistic strategies of the Gutai group and Fluxus. For Skulptur Projekte 2017, Arakawa has staged a light and sound show on the south-western end of Lake Aa. He has grouped seven pixelated LED paintings he assembled himself on the grassy space. https://www.skulptur-projekte.de/#/En/Projects/2017/815/ARAKAWA

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Tender Tender, Michael Dean (Newcastle) artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

This is another of the remarkable works in 2017 projekte. How to fill a big atrium with all kind of rubbish, achieve that experts call it “art”, and get paid for it. Think abou it. It is not easy at all.  And I visited it twice! 2016 Turner Prize nominee Michael Dean takes over the atrium of the museum. He draped semi-transparent plastic sheets around the square space, creating a room within a room. Using peepholes, visitors can look at the sculptures inside the room. To enter the atrium, you have to take a walk around the historic halls. Michael Dean used materials from the streets, like rubbish, plastic, and concrete, to create an installation around an abstract semiotic system. https://www.skulptur-projekte.de/#/En/Projects/2017/822/DEAN  

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On Water (Auf dem Wasser), Ayşe Erkmen’s (Istanbul) artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017

Following with the recent impressions in Münster, this is one of the interesting works to see and to experiment. Besides the official descriptions, this is a work that generates a variety of suggestions. Depending on the point of view you see people walking on water. Or you may recall the refugees phenomenon, that have to go through water to go from one place to another. Anyway it is a remarkable piece of art that requires that you put your feet into water to fully appreciate it. On Water (Auf dem Wasser) is the title of Ayşe Erkmen’s artwork for Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017. For Skulptur Projekte 2017, Erkmen selected Münster’s inland harbour as her location. Just below the surface of the water between the bustling Nordkai (northern pier) and the industrialized Südkai (southern pier) she installed a jetty that links the two riverbanks. It creates the impression that visitors are

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Pierre Huyghe’s After ALife Ahead (2017) at Skulptur Projekte Münster: augmented reality

This is for shure the most impressive work of Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017, and the most expensive one, and it’ll be destroyed after Octobert the 1st. A work including cancer cells, snails, algae, concrete, bees, mud, software and many other elements. While touring possible locations for his contribution to the 2017 Skuptur Projekte in Münster, Germany, late last year, the 54-year-old French artist found one such site, a sprawling, old ice-skating rink, no longer in use, tucked behind a Burger King on the edge of town. “This place will be destroyed, so I could actually act on it as I wanted,” he said, recalling what attracted him to the space in a Skype call from Brooklyn last week. Huyghe has transformed that abandoned rink into one of the most formidable and mysterious artworks that I have ever seen, an alien environment that seems secretly to teem with life and that

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