WHEN I DIE. . . . – Groupshow
Daniel Chluba, Nils Dunkel, Chris Engman, Devin Farrand, Sten Gutglück, Anna K.E., Iwajla Klinke, Roman Liska, Max Machaidze, Florian Meisenberg, Robert Seidel, Pietro Spirito, Rosi Steinbach, Michael Wutz, Sahar Zukerman
“When I Die” is a tongue and cheek conceit with a serious challenge. Individual wooden crates used in the actual transport of artworks internationally were assigned to each participating artist. The crate’s dimensions determine the overall limit and size of the work by assembling a roster of emerging and established artists. They are mainly in Berlin but also in New York City, Tbilisi, Copenhagen and Los Angeles. They make paintings, photographs, conceptual art, audio work, installation art and sculpture.
The exhibition captures an international spectrum of traditional and experimental art forms. Installed across all three exhibition spaces at 68, these special commissions are presented in their crates. They resemble coffins, refrigerators, medicine cabinets and, in the case of the most miniature crates, a box of cigars or a wooden gift box for wine.
“I’m gonna be cremated and buried on the spot where I was found, by that river. I was found with nothing, and I’m not going to take anything with me when I die.”
— Nathan Duc Koestlin, exberliner, January 2015
68projects presents an exhibition of contemporary artists working across a range of artistic media, alongside a special commissioning project involving wooden art shipping crates.
The pressures of the contemporary art market can weigh heavily on the everyday thoughts and schedules of artists working alone in their studios. Upcoming exhibitions, participation in international art fairs, publication deadlines and residency programs help artists expand their careers and practices. Operating in repeating cycles and on accelerated timelines, these opportunities serve as benchmarks of success, yet they can also sideline a fundamental question every artist must eventually confront: Is the art I am making going to endure the test of time?
“When I Die” is a tongue-in-cheek concept with a serious challenge at its core. Individual wooden crates—used in the actual international transport of artworks—were assigned to each participating artist. The dimensions of each crate determined the maximum size and limits of the work created.
By bringing together emerging and established artists—primarily based in Berlin, but also in New York City, Tbilisi, Copenhagen and Los Angeles—working in painting, photography, conceptual art, sound, installation and sculpture, the exhibition presents an international spectrum of both traditional and experimental art forms.
Installed across all three exhibition spaces at 68projects, these unique commissions are displayed within their crates. The containers resemble coffins, refrigerators or medicine cabinets; the smallest crates evoke cigar boxes or wooden wine cases. (Once removed from the crates, most artworks can be presented in conventional frames or on pedestals.)
While the exhibition’s title and life-sized containers may have prompted some artists to address themes of death—appropriate given that Nathan Koestlin’s “funeral plans,” quoted above, inspired the project—the works ultimately function as messages in a bottle, sent forward into the future in the hope of one day joining the dead of art history.
Participating artists:
Daniel Chluba, Nils Dunkel, Chris Engman, Devin Farrand, Sten Gutglück,
Anna K.E., Iwajla Klinke, Roman Liska, Max Machaidze, Florian Meisenberg, Robert Seidel, Pietro Spirito, Rosi Steinbach, Michael Wutz, Sahar Zukerman