Museum Tinguely opens the first solo exhibition in Switzerland by Katja Aufleger

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, March 28, 2024


Museum Tinguely opens the first solo exhibition in Switzerland by Katja Aufleger
Katja Aufleger, BANG!, 2013–2016 Installationsansicht «Katja Aufleger. GONE» Serie: Glas, versch. explosive Substanzen, Gummi Je Skulptur ca. 50 x 30 x 30 cm © Courtesy of the artist; Galerie STAMPA, Basel; Galerie Conradi, Hamburg. Photo: Gina Folly.



BASEL.- The first solo exhibition in Switzerland by Katja Aufleger (born 1983 in Oldenburg, lives and works in Berlin) brings together works from the past decade: breakable sculptures, hazardous chemicals and video works. With transparent materials such as glass, plastic and coloured liquids, but also immaterial components like sound and movement Aufleger develops fragile installations and films. At first glance, the objects seem familiar and appealing, but on closer inspection it becomes clear that the works are inhabited by uncertain or even dangerous tensions. Using this kind of ambivalences the artist criticises institutions and questions power structures and systems. The exhibition GONE will be on view until March 14, 2021 and is accompanied by a catalogue that provides a comprehensive overview of her work.

Potential destruction
In the main hall at Museum Tinguely, three round-bottomed flasks filled with transparent liquid hang from the ceiling on steel cables. Entitled NEWTON’S CRADLE (2013/2020), this work is an oversized version of a desktop toy in which the collisions of five suspended metal balls demonstrate the transfer of kinetic energy. If one were tempted to do the same with Aufleger’s glass spheres in the exhibition space, however, the destructive power would be enormous, as the fragile vessels contain the three chemicals needed to make nitroglycerin.




Video works as illustrative models
Whereas here the destruction remains a theoretical possibility, in LOVE AFFAIR (2017) glass really does burst. In close-up, the video shows light bulbs against a dark background. The silence is suddenly broken by a loud bang. One after the other, the lamps are destroyed by projectiles. This discharging of tension remains caught in an endless loop, however, oscillating rhythmically between attraction and danger. Both challenging and inviting, Aufleger’s art develops its full power when the destructive moment of change—either real or imagined—sets in. In her video work THE GLOW (2019), we see fishing lures being dragged through swimming pools. Different underwater shots alternate at short intervals, with changing perspectives, surroundings, light conditions and lures. We hear a rhythmic clicking or clacking, sometimes matching the movements and then out of synch with them. These are excerpts from fishing tutorials in which anglers demonstrate the effect of the lures. The rubber fish become marionettes in an amusing puppet theatre or animated avatars in a digital world. The wobbly videogame aesthetics of these amateurishly produced films against a background of blue-tiled, deserted underwater architecture appears apocalyptic, and at the same time humorous.

Multimedia and conceptual art
In order to materialize her sculptural ideas, Aufleger either uses a video camera or shapes clay with her own hands. But for precise results, she also has her ideas realized by glassblowers or programmers. Loops, grouping and repetition generate cyclic systems with no beginning or end. The artist strips out familiar structures or methods, freeing them of their routine connotations and filling them with new possibilities. In this way, she creates spaces of imagination by repurposing materials in surprising ways. Aufleger’s works critique institutions, question roles and cross borders: curators bring even the most explosive works into the museum, while the audience becomes the most important player in her conceptual games.

Publication
The exhibition is accompanied by a bilingual catalogue (DE/EN). This first critical study of Katja Aufleger’s oeuvre is richly illustrated and offers a theoretical overview and an index of her works to date. Quinn Latimer has written a poetic text about the acoustic and political dimensions of her work, addressing the immaterial side of her art, while the curator Lisa Grenzebach has analysed the artist’s strategy between seduction and the pleasure of destruction. The book was designed by the artist and graphic designer Michael Pfisterer and is published by DISTANZ, Berlin. (Museum edition (ISBN 978-3-907228-08-1) / Publisher edition (ISBN 978-3-95476-373-3))










Today's News

December 7, 2020

US Supreme Court hears case on art trove bought by Nazi Germany

Artcurial will offer an exceptional body of work by Balthus

Sotheby's shares highlights from cross-category Impressionist, Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac unveils a three-part transformative exhibition with works by over 60 artists

First major survey of the work of British artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye opens at Tate Britain

David L. Lander, Squiggy on 'Laverne & Shirley,' dies at 73

Frick announces two curatorial appointments

Museum Tinguely opens the first solo exhibition in Switzerland by Katja Aufleger

William S. Morris III, Morris Museum of Art founder & chairman, receives 2020 Governor's Award

BCKJ Architects named winners of the 2020 RA Dorfman Award for Architecture

Reflex Amsterdam exhibits a set of recent works by Daniel Firman

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum opens new Shen Wei Painting In Motion exhibition

Tobias Pils now represented by David Kordansky Gallery

Charles Phillips donates $1M to mark appointment as Chairman of Apollo Theater's board

Who was the star? In this dance film, It was the camera

Warren Berlinger, film and television character actor, dies at 83

Lights, camera, construction!

NewArtProjects opens three new exhibitions

ASU Art Museum opens a new exhibition by boredomresearch

Meet me at the green screen

St Nicholas tradition triumphs over Covid in Prague

Cooking Sections present their new project 'Salmon: A Red Herring' at Tate Britain

Taymour Grahne Projects reopens with a continuation of 'The New York Times Drawings 1996-1998'

Being, not seeing, 'The Nutcracker'




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

sa gaming free credit
Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful