KÜNSTLERHAUS

BETHANIEN

Exhibition

Relax

parking avenir

Parking avenir is the most recent installation by the artist group RELAX (chiarenza & hauser & co). RELAX are experts on the identity of institutions. Their most recent installation describes the history of Künstlerhaus Bethanien itself and also examines the square, Mariannenplatz, located in front of the building. Our attention is directed towards the secret change in values brought about by cost-cutting cultural policy and towards the urban surroundings of the Künstlerhaus.

After extensive research in Kreuzberg archives, the cultural institution is viewed as a construct capable of change, and cultural politics are thrown into question.
First of all, access is made more difficult. Separately accessible installations demand from the user that he adapts to the exhibition architecture, conveying an image of the frequently changing constellation of relations between artistic development, the work of curators and exhibiting. A studio, a curator’s office and an exhibition space illustrate the way the institution is constituted, as if in a model. A ground plan of Mariannenplatz, cast in rubber, supplements the arrangement concerning the political terrain on which the Künstlerhaus is constructed. At the same time, interlocking video works present images of deceleration, and statements made by the personnel and the public. Before this panorama, almost lost on the floor and among glass cases in the dimly lit space, we find torn strips and loose piles of archive material that have been tipped out and blown about.

Exhibition
07.11. – 23.11.2003
Wed - Sun: 2 - 7pm
Admission free

Opening
06.11.2003
7 - 10 pm

Studio 2, Bethanien.