At this year's Art Cologne (7-11 November 2024) the LBBW Collection has been showing the collection presentation “Transitions”. Curated by Birgit Wiesenhütter, the show featured works from the LBBW Collection that not only create transitions between artistic genres and media, but also relate formally and in terms of content to diverse transitions in space, time, society and culture. In this video, Barbara Thomann (LBBW Collection) and Birgit Wiesenhütter (freelance curator) take us on a tour of the show. (in German language.)
“'Transitions' reflects processes of change. Transitions accompany the crossing of boundaries and at the same time create connections,” explains Birgit Wiesenhütter, who curated the collection presentation as an independent curator. “Nature, every person, every society is in a process of constant change and transition. Transitions are therefore something that we are constantly experiencing.”
Part of the exhibition is a special presentation of works by Tim Berresheim (*1975) with a wallpaper that can be viewed in 3D through 3D glasses. The artist's works illustrate the transition to a digital world. As an “early bird” (the title of one of the artist's series), he has been using the computer as a malleable tool to create his images for over 20 years. Some of the works are augmented and can be experienced in their digital extension with the help of an app.
Transitions / LBBW Collection at Art Cologne 2024. November 8, 2024.
“'Transitions' reflects processes of change. Transitions accompany the crossing of boundaries and at the same time create connections,” explains Birgit Wiesenhütter, who curated the collection presentation as an independent curator. “Nature, every person, every society is in a process of constant change and transition. Transitions are therefore something that we are constantly experiencing.”
Part of the exhibition is a special presentation of works by Tim Berresheim (*1975) with a wallpaper that can be viewed in 3D through 3D glasses. The artist's works illustrate the transition to a digital world. As an “early bird” (the title of one of the artist's series), he has been using the computer as a malleable tool to create his images for over 20 years. Some of the works are augmented and can be experienced in their digital extension with the help of an app.
Transitions / LBBW Collection at Art Cologne 2024. November 8, 2024.
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CreativityTranscript
00:00We are here at the stand of the LBBW collection of the Landesbank Baden-Württemberg.
00:15The LBBW collection looks back on a 50-year history of collections.
00:20We now have around 30 works in our collection.
00:253,000?
00:263,000 works in our collection. A little more, exactly.
00:30And we show the works in our central offices, in the houses of the bank, in branches, at the workplace of the employees.
00:42Employees can choose works for their offices themselves.
00:47We also have concepts for our Hubs in Stuttgart.
00:55It is a great concern of ours to make our collection accessible to the public.
01:01We have cooperations with museums such as the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart or the Kunsthalle Mannheim.
01:09And we have a curated exhibition presentation at the Art Cologne curated by Birgit Wiesenhütter.
01:18In which we would like to give a little insight into our collection.
01:24On which we really enter into dialogue with the visitors.
01:30We show our works, talk about the works, about the artist's work.
01:35And in the rain we talk about the activities of the collection.
01:41Here we have the collection Transitions, which Birgit directed.
01:46The collection presentation has the title Transitions.
01:49I may go through a bit.
01:51At the beginning you can see that there is a lot going on.
01:55Because what is also communicative is work by Tim Beresheim, which is extended in the digital space.
02:02So here is a transition into the digital space.
02:05But Tim Beresheim works 80-90% analog.
02:10And that is also the important thing.
02:12And other important 10-20% are then done with the computer.
02:16The series that can be seen here with this wallpaper and the individual pictures is called Early Bird.
02:21And Tim Beresheim is also this Early Bird.
02:24Since 2002 he has been working with the computer.
02:27And with this Early Bird series, you see the people with the 3D glasses.
02:32This wallpaper is anaglyph, so with 3D glasses only properly to look.
02:38You can see how it comes into the room.
02:42And yes, the digital space is actually real.
02:46On the opposite wall we have works that also work with the computer.
02:52But here with AI work, i.e. using AI.
02:56Tim Beresheim does not do that right now.
02:59Nothing is generated there.
03:01The computer is the one who calculates, who helps to produce these works.
03:06Not the device that generates it.
03:11At Mary Audrey Ramirez here on the left ...
03:14Do you want to show that with the app?
03:16Ah, do you want to show it briefly?
03:18Yes, exactly, let's show it directly, right?
03:20So that we are already at work.
03:22Then let's show it briefly.
03:24You can download an app here.
03:26Tim Beresheim has updated it.
03:29And then you can see Augmented Reality here.
03:32And if you come along here, then you can see that it is three-dimensional to see.
03:38I always find it very nice to see it by hand.
03:42So, all these little works are augmented.
03:47And the wallpaper, as I said, 3D.
03:49But not generated by a computer.
03:52And the analog process is also important.
03:57Here it is like directing, says Tim Beresheim.
04:00So he determines everything.
04:02On the other hand, as an example, Mary Audrey Ramirez.
04:06On the right we see a work by Andreas Greiner.
04:09Both work with AI.
04:11And Mary Audrey Ramirez also comes from the gaming area.
04:15A transition into fantastic worlds that she creates there.
04:19And she says that for her it is an optimal collaboration with AI,
04:25if no one has the upper hand.
04:27So it's like a kind of teamwork.
04:29It goes a little bit over each other.
04:31The left worker has the beautiful title
04:33and is no longer in the mood for drama.
04:35And you can see how two figures move through such a fantastic landscape.
04:41But this latest technology, AI,
04:43here combined with this textile work,
04:45i.e. craftsmanship, manual labor.
04:47So a nice contradiction too.
04:49And you can see how it continues out of the hole here.
04:52And that's what's in the gaming area.
04:54So in these games, when you come somewhere,
04:56it's still on a completely different level.
05:00Then we have a little horse here,
05:02a rocking horse by Alexandra Birken
05:04with the title The Center Will Not Hold.
05:08And several people here at the booth have said
05:10that it has something visionary.
05:12Because of course it is also a political message.
05:14Or you can understand it that way.
05:16You can read it that way.
05:17I read it like this.
05:18The center will not hold.
05:19And you can see that here.
05:20On the one hand it is shaved.
05:22Yes, it really looks creepy.
05:24It then has human hair glued on.
05:26And that's not a nice, linear transition.
05:32But that's abrupt and deforming.
05:34And, as I said, actually a little creepy.
05:37Opposite.
05:38There are the others right now.
05:40We have a work by Wolfgang Kliemann.
05:42We'll go there again later.
05:44So it leads us here to a bit of a surreal level,
05:47which also works with spiritual and mystical aspects.
05:54We have two works here
05:56by the South Korean artist Hye Kyoung.
05:59Maybe we can hear that.
06:00These are two of her sonic pieces.
06:05A little louder so that it goes around.
06:15Sonic, rotating, whatever.
06:17And then we have the work rope over here.
06:22And that's based on a Korean legend or a Korean fairy tale.
06:26After two siblings were on the run from a beast,
06:30and in the most violent moment,
06:32a rope just came down.
06:34And they could save themselves
06:36by climbing up into the sky
06:38and becoming the sun and the moon.
06:40So a very poetic story, actually.
06:43And the whole thing is occupied with the work with these bells.
06:47And it's inspired by shamanic practices
06:52that she knows from Korea.
06:54But there's also a link to the South German fast night tradition,
07:01where you also know these bells.
07:03If you jump there, it also has a trance character
07:06and you get to a different level.
07:10Then we also have works here in the corner
07:13that deal with personality, transitions and different perspectives.
07:20Carina Brandes works with her body,
07:24tests the limits of her body.
07:27And you have a kind of mask here
07:29where you don't know where it starts and where it ends.
07:32And somehow we all have a mask.
07:34But this frog also has something humorous,
07:37which I also find very nice.
07:39It's not that difficult,
07:41but you also feel a little amused by it.
07:44With Matthias Pitzer, it's also about personality,
07:47that a personality can never be seen with just one look.
07:52And that there are also parts that are always in the shadow.
07:56You can see that quite well,
07:58that some of the shadows that fall on this picture
08:01naturally arise here by the lighting,
08:03but some are also painted.
08:05And you just always see a part.
08:07And depending on which perspective we take,
08:09we see another part.
08:11And there's even a part here that's on the floor.
08:14You could solve that curatorially in such a way
08:16that you put it over it.
08:18You can hang it on top.
08:20Then you can hardly see anything from this face.
08:23But the shadow is then painted on it.
08:26So it's very exciting
08:28how these different perspectives on personality
08:30and also the question of how these transitions are represented.
08:34It's nice to see the orientation of the collection here.
08:38Not that we have different media.
08:41We have installations, sculptures,
08:44spatial elements,
08:46works that you can't necessarily place well in everyday life,
08:50in office spaces.
08:54But within the framework of exhibition presentations or loans,
09:00we have the possibility
09:02to share such works with the public.
09:05Let's go to Tilmans for a moment.
09:08He's also central here.
09:10You can see it right from the middle aisle.
09:12A great work from his series Freischwimmer.
09:19For me, Tilmans also stands for
09:22how photography has made the transition
09:25to an artistic medium.
09:30It wasn't that easy in the 1980s.
09:33Frank Tilmans is the first photographer
09:36to win the Turner Prize.
09:38And this series Freischwimmer
09:40is a work that has no object at all.
09:45It was created in the darkroom.
09:49In principle, it's a kind of painting with light.
09:52And it also stands for the fact
09:54that the representation character of photography
09:58no longer plays a role.
10:00And that a picture, also a photo,
10:02is not simply made with a click,
10:05but that it's also about
10:07depicting a thoughtful world.
10:09Maybe we'll go over that.
10:11We have another work by Wolfgang Tilmans.
10:14Venus Transit.
10:16A planet constellation that rarely appears.
10:20In 2004, he made recordings of it.
10:22And we're exhibiting three here.
10:24This Venus Transit
10:28is on the one hand completely opposite.
10:31Because it really was like that.
10:35You can see how the Venus moves
10:37between the sun and the earth.
10:40But they still seem abstract.
10:44So geometrically abstract.
10:46And here, too, a picture, a photo,
10:48is not simply shot.
10:50He says that himself.
10:52But it is made in the sense
10:54that you think about it.
10:56Thinking about the world.
10:59Then we have a work by Martin Honert
11:02with the title Photo.
11:04And you can tell from the title
11:06that there is a transition here.
11:08A media transition.
11:10In fact, the work is based on a photograph.
11:12A photograph that the whole family
11:14of Honert showed at the table.
11:16What's left is for this plastic.
11:19He himself, who seems a bit lost.
11:22And you can see that the shadows
11:24that can be seen here on the object
11:26are painted.
11:28Of course, there is a natural shadow
11:30again through the lighting.
11:32But if you go around it,
11:34you can see that it is painted here.
11:36And with that you are back in the photo.
11:38Just like the light was a case.
11:40It's about memory.
11:42That's the main aspect of Honert.
11:44And you know yourself
11:46that the memory as a child
11:48is always a little different.
11:50We have two preliminary works
11:52for this.
11:54You don't just see
11:56what the object should look like,
11:58but the tablecloth.
12:00So the tablecloth
12:02that he probably looked at
12:04often enough as a child.
12:06And in all the plastic that is then created,
12:08it is more about the feeling that he had
12:10than about this situation itself.
12:12By the way,
12:14it's a map work.
12:16So the original designs,
12:18he doesn't give the containers.
12:20I think your blinkers
12:22are very nice, by the way.
12:24The transitions,
12:26the photography.
12:28If you look a little closer,
12:30you can see
12:32how two deer
12:34jump over the tracks
12:36and then give
12:38another blinker
12:40on the subject of transitions.
12:44Then we have
12:46two early works
12:48by Thomas Schütte,
12:50who currently has a large retrospective
12:52at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
12:54These early works
12:56are based on this transition,
12:58on this turn,
13:00whether he moves into painting
13:02or into sculpting.
13:04It is also a confrontation
13:06with his teacher, the painter Gerhard Richter.
13:08If you go close,
13:10you can see
13:12that each of these bricks
13:14is actually a small,
13:16which can certainly
13:18remind you of works by Gerhard Richter.
13:20But in the way it is then
13:22hung up, put together,
13:24which also refers to the room,
13:26it is an illusion that arises.
13:28And in fact,
13:30Thomas Schütte then developed
13:32more in the direction of sculpting.
13:34He still paints,
13:36but in the end he became known
13:38as a sculptor.
13:40And then we have a work
13:42by Tobias Rehberger
13:44which is a computer-based work.
13:46If you go in,
13:48you are in a painting room.
13:50And this painting room
13:52only changes gradually.
13:54You can hardly perceive it.
13:56The work takes 84 years,
13:58that is, no one will ever be able
14:00to see and perceive it in its entirety.
14:02And it is also the case
14:04that if we go in after two minutes,
14:06we think it's all the same.
14:08But if we go in after two or three days
14:10or maybe after two years,
14:12there is a change.
14:14And there you can also see
14:16this parallel to life.
14:18If you see it again,
14:20time has passed,
14:22but you haven't changed in that sense.
14:24But maybe after years.
14:26The work is based on a sound,
14:28a song with the title
14:30This is the day,
14:32which is actually about
14:34four minutes long,
14:36but then stretched to 24 hours.
14:38So when you're in there,
14:40but it's an experience.
14:42And that's the nice thing.
14:44This work enables an experience
14:46of transition, even if only gradually.
14:48Are there any more questions?
14:52How did the exhibition come about?
14:54Yes, it is so that
14:56when presenting a collection,
14:58you start with the collection itself.
15:00That means I start with the works
15:02that are available to me first.
15:04Over 3,000 works.
15:06Then you have a rich selection.
15:08What else have you shown?
15:10You also want to show something broader.
15:12The Art Cologne collection
15:14has been represented for a long time
15:16and you don't want to repeat yourself.
15:18And then you think about
15:20which direction I can take.
15:22And then you go that way.
15:24At the beginning I didn't necessarily
15:26think about the transition,
15:28but rather about the borders.
15:30Because that's such an interesting thing.
15:32A border is also a connection,
15:34a beautiful contradiction.
15:36You don't have to think about it,
15:38but develop it.
15:40You are in the movement,
15:42in the change.
15:44And I think that's a good link
15:46that you can pick up with everyone.
15:48Because we always have these transitions.
15:50The whole life is a transition,
15:52as you can see here
15:54in the work of Rehberger.
15:56But also in many others.
15:58Whether it's gender boundaries
16:00or media boundaries,
16:02whether it's a spiritual
16:04or material level.
16:06You really notice that this movement
16:08takes place everywhere.
16:10And that also expresses itself in these works.
16:12And I found that very exciting.