Realized through the engineering or construction techniques, the oeuvre of German artist Karsten Födinger brings forth the role of the mechanics as a constitutional element of sculpture – we are reminded that it is such a genre that rigidly follows the law of physics. The architectonical fundamentals, such as the cantilever, the avalanche breaker, or the riverside reinforcements, are utilized as a language for one to reflect on the climatic, geographical uncertainties that grounds and un-grounds the current planetary condition.
As the first international artist that the Antenna Space has premiered, as well as the artist’s first presence in China, Karsten Födinger proposes a research into the Chinese geography, concluded with four installations along with one photo series. The Fluvial Yingbi compressed various components: the billboard structure the artist discovered on top of the opposite building of the gallery; the screen wall yingbi he came across in the traditional Chinese garden; and the rammed earth technique he has read about – later heard in the mouths of factory workers – its image leaves one an impression of riverbed sedimentation. The Critical Mass (Inertia’s Basin) has also wedges a variety forms of “molds” into the artist’s conceptual sedimentation: the making of bronze bell (its formwork placed into the ground), the riverside reinforcement (that uses reinforcement steel and concrete), and potentially the dam if seeing the room for water as a negative space; its subtitle refers to the force known as rotational inertia, which slows down the rotation of the Earth carried out by the massive weight of the water the Three Gorges Dam has gathered.
This planetary consequence has triggered Födinger to travel into the midst of Yangtze River, resulting with the Critical Mass Photo Series. Each site of the landslide was lukewarmly taken, as if it’s the documentation of a piece of land art, and we are shown with a tranquil or even pastoral quality of the catastrophe. On top of the Yangtze River as a potential reference for the works in the gallery, the exhibition extends its territory by re-opening the riverside French windows. The framed scenery for Födinger is not only a mirror that faces the framed photographs, but links to the outdoor pieces Lureleï and Pile Dwelling for Lureleï together create an alternative guidance to the art space for the passers-by. The folklore quality of the titles (Lurelei is a large rock situating beside a bend in Rhine, literally means murmuring, whose echoing quality attracts much attention) leaves a strong contrast to the synthetic surrounding of Suzhou Creek. While the works that are infused with a sense of geo-synthetic are set together as the web for cross-reference, the Critical Mass draws us to notice a thin artificial layer that would eventually wrap up the Earth, which is known as Anthropocene.
Karsten Födinger
Born 1978 in Mönchengladbach, Germany; lives and works in Berlin
Solo exhibitions
2015
Spazio Cabinet, Milan
2014
Kernig, SOX, Berlin
Domestic Wildcards, RaebervonStenglin, Zürich
2013
Struttin, Kunstforum Baloise, Basel Baloise Art Prize, Hamburger Kunsthalle
2012
Void, KIOSK, Gent
Angsteisen, RaebervonStenglin, Zürich
C30/37; XD1, XF2, Kunsthalle St. Gallen, Switzerland
2011
Cantilever, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
2010
RaebervonStenglin, Zürich
The Hole, SALTS, Birsfelden, Switzerland
2009
Stare, projektraum4, Mannheim, Germany
2008
luxe paarden in actie: exhibition in personal space, Maastricht, the Netherlands
Selected group exhibitions
2015
['te:ra:p], Einraumhaus c/o, Mannheim, Germany Vibrant Matter, KIOSK, Ghent, Belgium
2014
Bex&Arts. Émergences, Parc de Szilassy, Bex, Switzerland Der grosse Abplatter, Nicolas Krupp, Basel
2013
Gegenklänge, Galerie der Stadt Sindelfingen, Sindelfingen, Germany Le jardin de sculpture, Collection N. Libert /E. Renoird, Paris
Hotel Chaleroi, Marchienne-Au-Pont, Belgium
2012
Alone Together, Rubell Family Collection, Miami Art and the City, Zürich
2010
Regionale 11, curated by Eric Hattan, Kunsthaus Baseland, Muttenz, Switzerland
Der unaufhaltsame Aufstieg von Draufgängern und Flaschen, curated by Meuser, Städtische Galerie, Karlsruhe Fischgrätenmelkstand, curated by John Bock, Temporäre Kunsthalle, Berlin
Purple Rain, Galerie Iris Kadel, Karlsruhe
Edition 5, Erstfeld, Haus für Kunst Uri, Switzerland
