metropolis m

There are a few elements which come back in the Vienna exhibition, such as a large fountain with 3 heads spurting water, and some modified ‘white elements’ sculptures (flat white painted metal plates, 2 metres high with a drawing of a face on each). But besides these two works the show will be quite different. For us, each new context needs a new approach. The complex architecture of the MuHKA building triggered the set-up of different scenes. The radical architecture of the Kunsthalle in Vienna – a huge concrete hall led by strong cold light – triggered a more radical approach. So not a number of works but one big work that is as radical as the space.

We always like to include the presence of the visitor in the work itself. As they look at things, they become part of the work. In the exhibition in Vienna there will be a lot but also nothing to see. The visitor can relax a little on very uncomfortable benches that were constructed for the show while looking at the fountain, or they can look at hundreds of drawings while listening to an unfriendly audio guide.

Germany and Germanic culture is very attractive for us for different reasons. Language is one of them. We always imitate German when we are working. It’s very relaxing to speak German when you are on an airplane that hits heavy turbulence. Then you can say “Ja, das ist einmal etwas anderes nah” or something like that. It makes you feel more safe.

The show in Vienna is in a way partly the result of this ongoing German imitation game we have. The display of 500 (non) drawings on 40 clearly numbered blocks along with an audio guide, is the result of one afternoon in our atelier imitating an old German professor from Sachsenhausen who has to find a way to present 500 (non) drawings in an effective way.

When we made Das Loch (2010), a video with puppets that speak German, we only came to the conclusion that they were German when we finished the puppets and saw them in different positions. Johannes, the main character in Das Loch, could have been an English painter. His name would probably have been George or Edward.

Yes indeed. In the spaces of the gallery we will show 34 puppets hanging on the walls. They are made from jute and are filled with straw. They are life size and have worn out and ragged clothes. They look quite damaged. The origins of this work came from a visit to Otwock near Warsaw were we first exhibited them. The history of the city of Otwock is quite loaded. Once – in the beginning of the 20th century – it was quite prosperous. Some fairly rich Jewish families lived in the villas constructed in the woods. At the end of the 1930s, Otwock became a ghetto. No Jew ever returned and now these villas are occupied by Poles or transformed into schools or orphanages. There is also a big drinking problem. The woods are filled with empty vodka bottles. This heavy situation inspired us to make a series of destroyed puppets.

This maybe has to do with the suffering of the male subject caused by the (mostly invisible) female subject. In Das Loch, Hildegard, the only female character, destroys her husband with her so-called love. The puppets from Otwock, all males, must have had wives or girlfriends once, but they found a way to escape from the fate of their men. They are cleverer and less fatalistic. In our next film there will be five women and only one blind man…

There are quite a few objects and characters that are reduced to fragile shades of what they once were. We are interested in them because they can still be classified as objects and people but their poor appearance makes them richer and more interesting. They become something else. We once made a photo series of 300 photos with ‘marginalised’ objects that were illuminated by a lamp of 6000 watt; a bit like ancient Egyptian artefacts that see the light of day after 3000 years. We tend to present the last episodes of these objects and characters before they completely disappear.

The next three exhibitions will take place in the “Anglo-Saxon” parts of the world. We will have two exhibitions in the US and one in London, all with new creations. We have the feeling that our work will be highly inspired by visiting these places. Our works will perhaps develop a very un-German feeling, and we are looking forward to that.

After our Anglo-Saxon episode there will be a very very French period, and then we will probably end up in Germany again.