Miet Pondrian: Wasserschaden?
Miet Pondrian: Water Damage?
Kartenrecht at Kunstverein Neukölln
On Friday, October 6, 2017, at 7 PM, Kartenrecht at Kunstverein Neukölln will open its exhibition "Miet Pondrian: Water Damage?". The lyrical phrase does not originate from tabloid press or a brief message from the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, but from the enigmatic and provocative machinery of collective cognition and production known as Kartenrecht.
Kartenrecht operates and produces as a collective of highly qualified artistic and art-theoretical positions with a uniquely impulsive, improvisational, and situational approach. Their working style resembles that of a well-rehearsed band rather than that of visual artists—a type traditionally associated with individualism and even hermit-like tendencies, not exactly known for teamwork skills. Not so with Kartenrecht: Without fear of mutual idea theft, identity, or face loss, the group, about the size of a soccer team, enthusiastically engages in collaborative art-making alongside their day jobs in exhibition setup. Accordingly, they have material preferences drawn from the real constructed meta-levels of the exhibition business: remnants of particle board, foils, Plexiglas, string, tape, and so on can indeed be "put to good use once again."
The results are surprising: bizarre structures and short films of special poetry, infused with wit and bite, that casually probe the current concept of art. Kartenrecht smoothly sidesteps conventional (albeit outdated) parameters for artistic success, leaving criteria such as personality, quantity, gender, price, biography, context, and the product itself in a state of potent indifference. And the reason for this remains a mystery—between chaos, communication, and calculation, anything is possible. Since 2004, Kartenrecht has appeared sometimes secretively, as in their first exhibition at KW Berlin, sometimes publicly via artenrechtK on YouTube, or traditionally showcased as now at Kunstverein Neukölln. However, their preference for the dynamics of the whirlpool and the temporality of productions and unforgettable moments in the Kartenrecht art frenzy is consistently evident. This is dramatically illustrated in their short films "Kernschmelze," where a manned, rotating stage-like structure stoically spins into devastation like Mother Nature, and of course "Seeschlacht," an epic staging with fantastic special effects, where battleships of classical modernity clash in apocalyptic floods.
Fifty years after Fluxus and one hundred years after Dada, Kunstverein Neukölln, in collaboration with Kartenrecht, launches its new exhibition series "Surprise!". This series is dedicated to the potential of cooperative improvisation in the visual arts. It focuses on expanding individual approaches and content through improvised artistic teamwork. Thus, the time is ripe for Miet Pondrian. The water damage comes free of charge—tangible, liquid, or vaporized. The theosophy and art god of Mondrian waves goodbye from modernity, and the moment in Kartenrecht's making stretches into the vertical: One can be curious—let's wait and see!
The exhibition is organized by Antje Gerhardt and Lars Maurmaier.
Vernissage: Friday, October 6, 2017, 7 PM
Finissage with artist talk: Sunday, November 5, 2017, 7 PM
Exhibition duration: October 7 to November 5, 2017
Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday from 2 PM to 8 PM