2021-23 Research project, presentation
heavy-duty shelves, tent, tbc.
Künstlerhaus Stuttgart
The research project began with the idea of pessimism as a feeling suspended between immobility and upheaval. This ambivalence between passive and active states is reflected in the many meanings of the German word „ziehen“ (to pull). Pulling inherently describes a (force) transmission between two points toward the exerted force. As one of the German verbs with the most prefixes, ziehen generates a wide range of nuanced meanings.
The research is structured into six chapters:
1.) Ziehen (pulling)
2.) Durchziehen – continuity (≈ through)
3.) Über etwas her-/runterziehen – pessimism (≈ over/ down)
4.) Anziehen – lamps (≈ on)
5.) Vor-/zurück-/entziehen – heavy-duty shelving (≈ front/back/with)
6.) Aus-/abziehen – van life (≈ out/ off)
Through a partly autobiographical investigation into Pietism, predestination, the experience of contingency, cultural pessimism, and esotericism, a number of partially ephemeral works have emerged. Among them: watercolors painted on Wi-Fi repeaters and Styrofoam packaging, lamps made from ceramic and papier-mâché, a collection of jackets, shoes, and backpacks, as well as heavy-duty shelving units on wheels.
At the center of the project stands a tent built to the dimensions of a van’s loading area—furnished with a sleeping space, workspace, cooking area, and stacks of borrowed books from the library. In this site of knowledge accumulation, the books form a kind of negative sculpture.
Janis Eckhardt 