23 January 2009
Victoria Lucas and Leo were invited to guest curate at zwanzigquadratmeter (20qm) project space, for a duration of two months beginning in January 2009. Their project comprised a series of events with UK and Berlin connections, including two exhibitions and a film showcase.
Friday 23d January 2009: Geerten Verheus, Opening 19:00 - 22:00
Height and Pit, The are suspended both in space and in time - they both hang from a ceiling and both have been waiting for an appropriate occasion to be exhibited.
Height is a variation on the 2006 kinetic sculpture Lengths (By and Large). A rubber length, measuring the exact height of the space, draws a thick black curved line from the ceiling to the floor. In its effort to become the centre axis of the room by straightening itself up, it is helped and at the same time handicapped by its support system, which consists of an electric motor and supporting belts.
On’Lengths (By and Large), Tom Morton wrote in Frieze Magazine:
‘Sex,’ claimed Andy Warhol, ‘is the biggest nothing of all time.’ Looking at Geerten Verheus’ Lengths (By and Large), (2006) – a kinetic sculpture that formed the centrepiece of the group show ‘Flutter’, curated by the painter Michael Raedecker – it’s hard not to hear the Pop artist’s words whispering in your ear. A motor hummed on the gallery ceiling, winding up a long brass chain from which were suspended several dark lengths of beechwood. As the mechanism turned, the sculpture tensed, and you got to thinking about arched backs, curled toes and gristly erectile tissue. Finally, unable to take any more, Verheus’ piece shuddered in grateful release and momentarily slackened, only for the whole Sisyphean process to begin once more. Call it a wheel of desire. Call it an automaton suffering from some pornographic strain of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Call it what you like, frankly, because it’s too busy to listen, caught up as it is with chasing the big ‘O’, the big zero, the big, Warholian nothing.
Pit, The is installed likewise, hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room.
This work is in fact the second life of the remains of the first version of The Midnight Sun (2005), irreparably damaged from heat in 2006. Re-constructed, The Midnight Sun is a disco mirror ball, made entirely out of rubber, and installed from the ceiling in typical fashion. Pit, The might recall a club inferno, imploded or exploded and inverted after a blast.
Friday 13th February 2009: Victoria Lucas and Lucy Powell, Opening 19:00 - 22:00
OG.1
Victoria Lucas, Stills 2008/09. Video Installation
“Photographs were often called ‘stills’ in the late 18th century, in part because photographers were prone to shout “Still” to alert their subjects that the shutter was about to be opened and that they were to hold their pose without moving.”
- Jonathan Friday, Stillness Becoming: Reflections on Bazin, Barthes and Photographic Stillness
Reminiscent of life and present on digital film, the inanimate taxidermy specimens imitate a series of photographs; petrified as if captured in one singular moment through the lifelike pose and appearance long after death. These portraits re-present a duration of time; their deceptive gaze seemingly watching time pass as the reflection of their spectators moves across the glass surface of their eyes.
Exploring the relationship between photography, film, and temporality, Stills presents the reality of the medium in which it is created. The moving image significantly conveys the temporal aspects of actuality, in relation to its existence as a subject affected and controlled by the forces of time. Here time is still present, but the most important characteristic of life, movement, has been extracted.
OG.4
Lucy Powell
Liminal Animal 2008. Whiskers
In the labyrinth the lab mice dream they are still navigating 2009. Ceramic Teeth
I am showing two new works and suffice it to say that they will take you into the labyrinth the lab mice dream they are still navigating. It being Friday 13th and all, I think this is an appropriate choice. Grit your teeth, tip-toe through.
A selection of photographs from both previews taken by Victoria Lucas and Bruno Di Lecce.
zwanzigquadratmeter
Petersburger Straße 73
Seitenflügel, 1. und 3. OG
D - 10249 Berlin
+49(0)177 46 28 563
info@20qmberlin.com
M10 Bersarinplatz - U5 Frankfurter Tor - S Storkower Straße
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