If you have chosen - perhaps due to theoretical suspicions - not to imagine the fourth dimension before now, Shin il Kim still offers some insights into a more reserved, but equally challenging interim sphere. The artist, who was born in South Korea and lives in New York, actually works on the 2 1/2th dimension, using this term to refer to an oscillation between the second and third dimension that one might best call a transitional stage between drawing and three-dimensionality.

Kim produces this missing link between the dimensions by pressing colourless outlines in layers of paper and subsequently filming them on video. What emerges is a picture puzzle composed of the visible and the invisible, which is certainly suited to art-historical analysis. Inspired by the figurative drama in Raffael's "Transfiguration of Christ", Kim constructs models of the main figures of the painting in order to set them in motion, transpose them into the video medium, project them back onto paper, and finally to translate them into video loops that he then stages as a walk-in spatial installation. In this way, a critical stocktaking of belief and superstition, concept and authority emerges - almost as a side effect.



The Transubstantiation, Studio 1,
January 27th – February 12th 2006,
Opening: Thursday, 26. January 2006, 19 h

Lucas Lenglet’s spatial scenarios often remind us of operative base camps, protective set-ups for use in case of catastrophe, or temporary military hides - or they display the materials and objects characteristic of such places. With "tools for rescue/tools for hiding", Lucas Lenglet has now realised an installation filling an entire room of the Künstlerhaus; the visitor enters it as if stepping onto a stage.

Inspired, among other things, by Goya’s painting, "El incendio de noche" (1793), which shows the horrified inhabitants of a city or village running to escape a fire at night, Lenglet has created a formalised topography over the extensive area of Studio 2. This assembles tools and instruments for protection and rescue in the form of various objects and architectonic structures.

"tools for rescue/tools for hiding" almost appears to be a response to an event that has already taken place; Lenglet’s strategy is the "formalisation of violence" (Suzanne van den Ven).

Examining the arrangement in Studio 2, the viewer may fall prey to doubts: Lenglet’s protective devices certainly give the impression that they could unexpectedly transform, at any time, into obstacles - becoming a trap for all those who have entrusted themselves to them. Lenglet consciously refrains from any political or moral statement, merely collecting together instruments and tools in order to demonstrate the fragility and relativity of concepts such as "security". Those with power over its tools are always the people to define the meaning of security and to determine those who may enjoy it.



tools for rescue / tools for hiding, Studio 2,
January 27th – February 12th 2006,
Opening: Thursday, 26. January 2006, 19 h

BETHANIEN SPEAKS TURKISH. The integration of Turkish themes has been part of everyday life at the Künstlerhaus for a long time. "Berlin Istanbul" was only the last in a series of exhibition projects intended to build a bridge between the fascinating cultural scene in Turkey and Berlin.
From the end of February, we will be consolidating this bridge linguistically: Our website is learning Turkish! The most important information about our artists and exhibitions will also be appearing in the Turkish language - which we regard as a signal to our neighbours in Kreuzberg. The Künstlerhaus aims to become even more welcoming for all those in Berlin and Kreuzberg with an interest in art and culture.
NEW GRANT. As from April 2006, Künstlerhaus Bethanien GmbH will be offering a three-month residence to an artist of Turkish nationality in the context of its International Studio Programme.

Applications are invited - with the relevant project documentation - to arrive by the closing date: 1st March 2006.


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November 0th – November 0th ,
Opening: Tuesday, . November