2014 0017: ditte gantriis and rolf nowotny
january 12 — march 2, 2014
viewable 24 hours
Ditte Gantriis and Rolf Nowotny’s collaborative piece for die raum plays with the inherent non-functionality of the space and its infinite potential as a room with no apparent rationale. Gantriis has created a series of crudely modeled clay noses mounted on the walls, which refer to clichéd characters like the witch, the snob, and the fool. The noses are blindly facing (and sniffing) Nowotny’s giant metal profile of a foot hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room. The metal foot is “energized” by an outlining power cord, that works as an electrical drawing in space referring to the energy produced by the human body.
Gantriis and Nowotny share a common interest in the contemporary value and meaning of objects — or lack thereof. In this installation body parts are treated as generic objects that linger between a reading as pure sign or as human flesh. Establishing a playful dialogue between caricaturesque body elements, the artists set out to animate the functional void of die raum as a grotesque living being — with either too many or too few limbs.
