installation
together with Christina Hartl-Prager within the scope of an invitation of the Whyspa-Institute of Art, Gdansk/Poland (open studio on tour)

The Whyspa- Insitute of Art has brougt us to the Gdansk shipyard - the place were 25 years ago Solidarnosc was founded. The city is adorning itself with giant banners presenting Solidarnisc and the pope John Paul II. The anniversity is celebrated.

We reside on the frontline of industry and art. On one side the docks and shipbuilding, on the other side Whispa - Institut of Art – since two years positioned here in a former schooling-house – a beautyful old clinker-building. Whyspa is standing in a remodelling prozess; shall be rebuilt as contemporary museum. Models of the futur building are presented – clean, white, with steal and glass- components – correlativ to the minimalistic „white cube“-style of todays museum.

Like the most former realsocialistic societies, also the Polish does everything to rebuild itself according to western structure as fast as posible. This often comes along with an undifferentiated denegation or degradation of all historically evolved structures. The reorientation is coined by a reevaluation of former modes of perception and activity. In this process always undefined spaces come into existence – they are already detached from their meaning, but not newly filled yet.

On the area there also is standing an old kiosk. It once was painted green, the windows are broken, everywhere are glueing remains of posters and clippings. The desperate little house is used as dump-ground since years. Inside the trash piles up, up to one meter.

We start with sweeping the dust of everything, shrouded in dust-clouds pulling down scraps of paper, detaching crobwebs and varnish-rests, in a next step, cleaning the broken windows. The next two days we spend with coloring the house in-and outside white as the driven snow. The old kiosk becomes an architectonical model – one, like we have seen in the Whyspa building, at our arrival.

The trash still is standing inside the meanwhile uncompromisingly white object. Covered with glue and newspapers, rubbish-bags, bottles, cables, neon tubes and demolition material morph into a small landscape, which in the last step also is colored white. „FICTION“ is written in big letters on the roof, clearly legible out of the directorate- office in the first floor of Whyspa.

An exibition for the anniversary of Solidarnosc currently is beeing prepared. International artists from France, Germany and Poland are invited.

While our four-days-action, they are slowly arrising, to inspect the intitut and the environment ...

mixed media/ Glue, Paper, white dispersion paint

01/12 

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