Abandoned items seized the space of AUTOCENTER, an independent exhibition space in Berlin – Friedrichshain. Broken blinds, fragments of plastic bags, aluminium panels taken from air- condition units, radiators or rolled doormats occupy the room and squat it in their own way – which makes a slovenly and derelict impression. However, these are precisely organised artifacts made by artists who were selected by SALTS – a contemporary art salon located in Birsfelden / Basel in Switzerland. The project came to Berlin as a part of mutual exchange (last summer SALT showed artists from AUTOCENTER) and creates bridge not only between two cities or two art-spaces but, above all, forms a discourse on the recent works by international artists.
“Stepping stone” plays with the inherent and essential nature of the things that surround us but do not pay attention to in everyday life. Things which are somewhere hidden or they are too obvious to catch our sight. The artists taking part in the show (Frank Altmann, Awst & Walther, Nina Beier, Eva Berendes, Stefan Burger, Martin Soto Climent, Adam Thompson) not only bring them to light but, moreover, questioning and “recycling” their widespread applications. The exhibition space looks as if the artists appropriated objects contained therein. Through rejecting the concept of mass production, they find the absurd in what is regarded as handicraft and manufactured. They create the environment where what seemed to be familiar becoming unknown. In the middle of the room suspends the work by Martin Soto Climent’s (“Graffiti Blind”, 2010) – abstract sculpture made of blinds painted with spray paint, inspired by abandoned houses in the artist’s home town of Mexico City. The sharp shape of the metallic blind became more subtle and dynamic, twirling around its axis, lost its intended function.
The words “domestic” and “industrial” take new meanings. What was considered to be not personal becomes personal by marking it with artistic individuality. In the same time referring to global society and economy, consumption and wear and tear it becomes political without showing politics.
In Nina Beier’s “The Demonstrators (Broken Rope)” posters of ripped ropes are draped over the radiators as towels that need drying. In fact they are stuck to it. Those stock images taken from publicity accessible database refer to absurd of visual culture, where everything is reduced to virtual representation. Similar response can also be found in circle paintings created with fingerprints (Awst & Walther, “Biometric Paintings”, 2012), which one of its meaning may relate to socio – political aspect of the pervasive dominance of technology in controlling our identities.
Exhibited works through its form also take on a discussion about the role of abstraction in contemporary art and its representation today, putting questions whether it can be a dynamic platform for the public realm. One of the most significant examples is Frank Altmann’s “Abstract 11”(2011). His slides made of pieces cut out of plastic bags look like geometric paintings from the beginning of 20th century. There is something sad inside them, some kind of nostalgia. On one hand they are homage to the masters of modern art, on the other – Altmann plays with the meanings of the original and reproduction and its sense in the contemporary consumer world.
The presentation deals with the tradition of modernist discourse, initiated by Dada movement – what is art and what is not (but it’s no longer interested in designated objects as art by placing them into the gallery) and where are the boundaries – if there are any – between subject and its significance, material and idea, private and public.
Text by Weronika Trojanska