“JUST WHAT IS IT”
Oskar Zięta, Rafał Dominik, Stéphanie Baechler, Deborah Bowmann, Design Displacement Group, Martino Gamper, Pieterjan Ginckels, Trix and Robert Haussmann, Niek Hendrix, Jochen Holz, mischer’traxler studio, Os and Oos, Jiří Pelcl, Cyril Porchet, Louie Rigano & Gil Muller, Tina Roeder, Mirka Laura Severa, Silo Studio, Robert Stadler, Studio Swine, Nick van Woert, Florian Ziller & Fatemeh Naderi
Chamber is pleased to announce that Collection #3, curated by Matylda Krzykowski of Depot Basel will open with Part I — Just What Is It — on October 27th, 2016. Collection #3 will be composed of four parts that will open periodically from October 2016 through May 2017.
Named after the iconic 1956 artwork by Richard Hamilton, “Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?”, “Just What Is It” at Chamber will explore groups of objects that are possibly as desirable now as the items featured prominently in Hamilton’s work were half a century ago, at the dawn of the modern consumer age. Hamilton pasted images onto a page, and Krzykowski will place objects in a space, creating a collage of contemporary works in real life. To accompany each show, Krzykowski will collaborate with a different artist to make a two-dimensional collage, so the compositions can live on.
“The request to make a choice of one hundred items for a gallery show is like collecting one hundred potential fragments for a collage,” says Krzykowski. “It’s an ambivalent concept, because clearly the aura of the individual piece is sabotaged. The methodology of this type of assemblage is the central defining factor of the four exhibitions of Collection #3. By exploring a different theme with every exhibition, each globally assembled collage becomes a token of our times expressed through various types of work. Collection #3 will be a temporary and static image in the same time. The show in the gallery will last for a limited amount of time, but the digitally created image is permanent.”
The selection of objects is a combination of work by designers and artists who relate to ideas around living spaces and desired objects such as domestic sculptures, surrealist lights, abstract shapes, foldable structures, informative paintings, architectural templates, aesthetic games and beyond.
Select pieces in the collection use mirrors playfully, provoking the viewer into seeing the exhibition in a new light. “Einheit in der Vielfalt – Vielfalt in der Einheit” by Florian Ziller & Fatemeh Naderi is a mirror that always presents a new image, where the hinged sections respond to position, gesture and distance from the viewer. “Die Urkiste nach dem Sündenfall” by Trix & Robert Haussmann comprises two archetypical wooden boxes, one with a mirrored corner and the other without a corner. It is a pair that plays with the perception of spaces and how mirrors affect it.
Many of the works on view center around colliding ideas of functional object and sculpture. “L’homme rêve n°10” by Deborah Bowmann grapples with the notions of ‘support’ and ‘present.’ Usually used for signs and information, argon and helium lights by Jochen Holz are organically shaped sculptures for the domestic environment.
“Pli permanent” by Stephanie Bächler is a porcelain sculpture where contradictions and ambiguity are brought together in the shapes and material. The investigation is centered on the body and its relationship to space through fabric.
Colour is a noticeable element in the collection. “Binnit” by Martino Gamper is a series of multicolored bins that attempts to ask why bins don’t have a prominent role in the home. Oskar Zieta’s metallic panel paravent serves as room divider and a domestic sculpture.
As a curator and designer, Krzykowski approaches her task somewhat differently than past Chamber curators, designer and collector Job Smeets of Studio Job and photographer and filmmaker Andrew Zuckerman. Krzykowski will seek to redefine the physical space of Chamber, creating a constructed space within the gallery space, similar to a “living room” and applying methods of display similar to a museum.
Following Part I, Part II will open on December 15th, 2016. Parts III and IV will follow in March and May of 2017, each with their own distinct theme, but all under the umbrella of the concept of collage. The collage for Part I will be conducted by London-based Builders Club.
Rafał Dominik, Chamber, photo Lauren Coleman