Sensor K Berlin, 2002. Installation. (left) wooden construction 87 x 250 x 60 cm., (right) different objects, general view. Details different objects, pasteboard, plastic bags, glue.
Info
In this his piece, I analyse what has happened in the aesthetic exchange between images and status symbols and the way different immigrant groups in Berlin have adapted to them with own variances, depending on their origins.
To demonstrate this, I have only selected the status symbols ‘cars’ and ‘sportswear’. The symbols themselves are changed in to objects that can be touched. I use plastic begs from popular supermarkets which offer a wide selection of consumer goods, making it possible to “choose”. Therefore, the consumer is under the impression of being able to fulfill his dreams of acquisition. I cut away the recognizable parts of the bags to achieve formal and chromatic compositions and I wrap the objects with them.
Thus, a transposition of the object itself is made. The viewer acts according to his perceptions of the structure, colours and graphics, which he might not recognize even though he comes in touch with these objects everyday. In addition to the objects displayed here, the installation is complemented by an empty wooden structure, similar to a market stall to display and sell fruit. This stall is positioned at the entrance of the gallery.
Everyday, the increasing presence of cultural symbols makes us between symbols we recognize and those we do not know. This process requires us to change our codes. This transaction happens on different levels visual, oral aural, conscious or unconscious.
The street where everything is mixed and integrated, produces multiple meetings and new exchanges. Thus, without realizing, we define our everyday visual cartography. Then we turn forms into other forms: a cultural code is renewed, an idea is stated an an experience develops.