ART-PRESENTATION: SUR/FACE-Mirrors,Part II

Campana Brothers, Scrigno, 2009, © Estudio Campana, Photo: Matteo Piazza, VG Bild-Kunst Bonn 2017, Courtesy Museum Angewandte KunstOn the façades of bank towers, in boutiques, gyms and lobbies, in our homes and on our smartphones, everywhere you look, there are mirrored surfaces. Why are reflective materials so tremendously popular these days? How are mirror effects used in design, and how does art reflect on them? And what is the impact of the omnipresent experience of mirrors on us human beings? (Part I).

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Museum Angewandte Kunst Archive

The exhibition “SUR/FACE: Mirrors” at the Museum Angewandte Kunst focuses on the phenomenon of the mirrored surface in art, design and architecture of the present, presenting 100 objects made of mirrored glass, highly polished metal or reflective plastic by artists and designers. Mirrored images never exist independently, but come about only through their spatial surroundings, through the viewer’s gaze and angle of view. The exhibition creates room constellations in which the visitors take centre stage as the generators of individual meaning. Mirrored surfaces allow them to enter into dialogue with the objects and the architecture. Not least of all, with his individual perceptions, the visitor is thrown back on himself again and againThe exhibition stages two spacious, abstract domestic situations reminiscent of lofts or temporary residences. In these settings, reflective design objects and furniture form different interiors based on everyday lifeworlds. The viewers encounter rooms of everyday “mirror moments” both familiar and somehow different. Artworks, most of them mirrored themselves, enter into relationships with the interiors and reflect on the subject of reflection. Whereas mirrors were once a rare luxury, in the 19th Century methods of manufacturing them industrially were invented. With the advent of modern architecture and design they embarked on a triumphal advance and are meanwhile an integral element of our environment. A We use our mirror image countless times for self- assurance and, almost unconsciously, to check up on how we look. At the same time, mirrored surfaces simulate the gaze of others. As a medium of self-awareness, the mirror is the theme of numerous philosophical and psychoanalytical studies. Today the mirror oscillates more than ever between medium of contemplative self-perception and pure stimulation of the senses. Mirrored surfaces are fascinating by virtue of their flawless perfection and capable of arousing desire. As pure surfaces, they show no trace of the craftsmanship that went into making them and betray nothing of their materiality. They answer every look with a look back, while at the same time, thanks to their reflective properties, almost imperceptibly incorporate themselves into their surroundings. As a visual duplication of reality, the mirror alludes to the virtual; as a popular aesthetic it points to the dematerialization tendencies in contemporary design. Featured artists: John M. Armleder, Bernadette Corporation, Monica Bonvicini, Tom Burr, Keren Cytter, Latifa Echakhch, Olafur Eliasson, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Sylvie Fleury, Isa Genzken, Dan Graham, Olaf Holzapfel, Mischa Kuball, Josephine Meckseper, Olaf Nicolai, Tobias Rehberger, Thomas Rentmeister, Katharina Sieverding, Amalia Ulman, Andy Warhol, Pae White, Claudia Wieser and Heimo Zobernig.

Info: Curators: Juliane Duft, Dr Mahret Kupka, Dr Christine Nippe and Matthias Wagner K, Assistant Curator: Leonie Wiegand, Museum Angewandte Kunst, Schaumainkai 17, Frankfurt am, Duration: 24/6-1/10/17, Days & Hours: Tue & Thu-Sun 10:00-18:00, Wed 10:00-20:00, www.museumangewandtekunst.de

Isa Genzken, Neues Design für Weltempfänger, 2002, © Isa Genzken, VG Bild-Kunst Bonn 2017, Courtesy Museum Angewandte Kunst
Isa Genzken, Neues Design für Weltempfänger, 2002, © Isa Genzken, VG Bild-Kunst Bonn 2017, Courtesy Museum Angewandte Kunst

 

 

Left: Dan Graham, Pyramid, 1999 model, Photo: Anja Jahn, © Dan Graham, Courtesy Museum Angewandte Kunst. Right: Aranda\Lasch, Camouflage Screen, 2006, © Johnson Trading Gallery, New York, Courtesy Museum Angewandte Kunst
Left: Dan Graham, Pyramid, 1999 model, Photo: Anja Jahn, © Dan Graham, Courtesy Museum Angewandte Kunst. Right: Aranda\Lasch, Camouflage Screen, 2006, © Johnson Trading Gallery, New York, Courtesy Museum Angewandte Kunst

 

 

Romain Lagrange, Anguli, 2012, © Okolo, Prag, Courtesy Museum Angewandte Kunst
Romain Lagrange, Anguli, 2012, © Okolo, Prag, Courtesy Museum Angewandte Kunst

 

 

Left & Right: Neven Allgeier + Benedikt Fischer, Emirates, 2016-17, © Neven Allgeier + Benedikt Fischer, Courtesy Museum Angewandte Kunst
Left & Right: Neven Allgeier + Benedikt Fischer, Emirates, 2016-17, © Neven Allgeier + Benedikt Fischer, Courtesy Museum Angewandte Kunst

 

 

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