REVIEW: CAN CAPITALISM THINK SOCIALLY? (THE PASSION OF THE COLLECTOR). ART.ES MAGAZINE NO. 9 MAY/JUNE 2005, PAGES 74 AND 75
Lou Reed
Eleven years ago, various Leipzig artists were looking for spaces to work in after being thrown out of the house they occupied. The old Cotton Mill (Baumwollspinnerei) offered cheep rent. April 30th this year marked the grand opening of no less then five new art spaces there, making a total of nine art galleries and institutions in the Baumwollspinnerei, providing Leipzig with the highest density of artists in eastern Germany, according to Frank Motz, of Halle 14. The first space opened was the Kunstraum B/2. In 2004 the first commercial gallery arrived, and then in April Halle 14, the only non-profit space. Dogenhaus and Eigen + Art, the only surviving galleries from the vanguard of the Leipzig scene in the early 90s, have also moved into the large halls of Baumwollspinnerei.
The Halle 14, with a 4000 square metres kunsthalle, presented A Passion for Collecting, the Reinking Collection, the Federkiel Collection as its opening show, which featured selections from the collections of Hamburg-based Rit Reinking and Munich's Karsten Schmitz The latter is the owner of the Federkiel foundation which own Halle 14.
The opening marked the one year anniversary of the May 1. 2004 installed Betaversion 1.0 by Beate Engl featuring a loudspeaker and a red standard on the roof of the building. A rather harsh female voice calls loudly for artist to stand up against international biennials and curators that are controlling the art world. The speech itself is one Rosa Luxemburg held in the very beginning of the twentieth century in the same part of Leipzig as the work is installed – also on May 1. There are only a few words changed; Workers with artist, curators with fabric owners etc. Annoying neighbours as well as curators, the work is a recasting old material, and reflects current issues in the public display of art. It's the only site-sensitive work at the moment in the Baumwollspinnerei.
Till F. E. Haupt’s installation, Days in a Life, consists of more than 6000 thousand photographs (all 10x15 cm large) named Days in a Life. Haupt’s project is a demanding one: once a day, at the beginning of the day it seems, he or someone else, is taking his photograph. Additional to this he is carrying on his chest a small pin hole camera which is exposing a negative 24 hours before turned to the next frame. The self portraits are hung in sequence along 50 meters on one wall, while one the opposite are the often monochrome light-drawings.
Collecting shares certain characteristics with archiving. The aim of both is to preserve for the future, and a penchant for contributing to the outlines of art history. According to the show's curator, the object of the exhibition is to create a dialogue between the two collections. While differences in criteria is not obvious, the Reinking collection seems to favour wall-based work while the Federkiel collection is a bit more towards object-based and sculptural work. The both feature a good mix of young and mid-career artists and both German as well as international artists are represented. The Federkiel collection include parts of the Park Series produced by Leipzig artist KAESEBERG between 1992 and -94. The series helped bringing recognition to the artist and the gallery Eigen + Art in the early 90s.
The exhibition is large (I've seen smaller biennials!) but it capture the spirit of the baumwollspinnereri in the way it comments on the market aspects of the art world. Collection art is often buying and selling art, and even the former non-for profit Kunstraum B/2 has become a commercial gallery. It is apparent that the two feature collections share a social attitude towards collecting (neither being in the habit of frequent reselling) and support artists from the beginning of their careers. There is, however, a certain sadness to the fact that Leipzig offers no real support to artists not being interested in the gallery system, or who finds the doors of galleries closed to them. There are almost no non-profit spaces that allow artists to grow outside the commercial system of demand.
A Passion for Collecting
The Reinking collection, The Federkiel Collection
Halle 14, Leipzig
May 1 - October 2
Curator: Frank Montz.
participating artists:
from The Reinking Collection:Nir Alon, Hermine Anthoine, John von Bergen, Rolf Bergmeier, Matthias Berthold, John Bock, Ulla von Brandenburg, Baldur Burwitz, Diam (Mirko Reisser), Medeleine Dietz, Johannes Esper,Tom Früchtl, Till Gerhard, Till F. E. Haupt, Jan Holtmann, Wulf Kirschner, Henning Kles,
Thoshiya Kobayashi, Daniel Man, Bjørn Melhus, Mathieu Mercier, Jill Miller, Wilhelm Mundt,
Markus Paetz, Stefan Panhans, Pius Portmann, Michael Schmeichel, Jan Smejkal, Rainer Splitt,
Stonehead (Christoph Hässler), Tasek (Gerit Peters), Dimitris Tzamouranis, Sonja Vordermaier,
Anna Vuorenmaa, Johannes Wald, Heiko Zahlmann, Sebastian Zarius.
From The Federkiel Collection: Nevin Aladag, Benjamin Bergmann, Christian Boltanski, Anna Degenkolb, Beate Engl, Rodney Graham, KAESEBERG, Vollrad Kutscher, Mathieu Mercier, Olaf Nicolai.
special guests: Tea Mäkipää, Alexander Malgazhdarov, Remy Markowitsch