25 Apr 2009

Twilight Zone - Art hits Desing at KUNSTRAUM NIEDEROESTERREICH

Artists: Gilbert Bretterbauer, Matali Crasset, Hermann Czech, EOOS, ____fabrics interseason, Werner Feiersinger, Heinz Frank, Konstantin Grcic, Donald Judd, Luisa Kasalicky, Hans Kupelwieser, Lazar Lyutakov, Miriam Laussegger, Manuela Mark, Claudia Märzendorfer, Bjarne Melgaard, Philipp Messner, David Moises, Flora Neuwirth, Oswald Oberhuber, Dennis Oppenheim, Walter Pichler, POLKA, PRINZGAU/podgorschek, Joe Scanlan, Zbyněk Sekal, Barbara Visser, Lawrence Weiner, Heimo Zobernig

Curators: Edek Bartz and Krüger & Pardeller

The exhibition TWILIGHT ZONE at Kunstraum Niederoesterreich focuses on the gray area between art and design. Fascinated by the phenomenon that art is occasionally declared an object of use, the curators locate a sort of counter-movement to Duchamp's Readymade, giving a basic commodity the status of art.

Artists' and designers' positions, both current and historical, address the tension between autonomous sculpture and functionality that has been subject to constant transformation since Minimal Art. Through the architecture of the exhibition, individual aspects of this discourse will be made tangible.

Musealization of basic commodities

On a shelf that divides the room, reminiscent of presentations in design museums, the works of artists like Joe Scanlan or Flora Neuwirth are prominently presented and not to be touched, although they entertain the idea of utility. On the other hand, works of Donald Judd or Lawrence Wiener that were designed to be fully functional furniture are increasingly divested of any usage, an auratization, which is also addressed by Barbara Visser in her photographic work.

The everyday suitability of art

One section of the exhibition space serves as a lounge or sitting area, where art objects become usable; here one can seat oneself on one of Gilbert Bretterbauer's rugs or make oneself comfortable on PRINZGAU/podgorschek's chairs. The table, created by Walter Pichler, invites the visitor for a read, and the light is provided by lamps made out of plastic plates from discount shops by the young Bulgarian artist Lazar Lyutakov, also making a reference to the economic spectrum between mass-market design and luxury objects.

The desire to be classified

Sculptural objects, such as the works of designer Matali Crasset reminiscent of seating furniture, stem from the vocabulary of everyday forms without honoring their use-value. Installations like the one from fashion designer ____fabrics interseason, a textile wall covering, suggestive of a tiled kitchen corner, or Luisa Kaslicky's installation made from a mix of prefabricated building materials and décor, play with the conventions of seeing and prompt a questioning of the usual categories, which are based on ideas regarding the usability and functionality of objects.