Artist: Darren Bader
Exhibition title: fünfdreier
Venue: Société, Berlin, Germany
Date: February 10 – March 18, 2023
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Société, Berlin. All photos by Joe Clark
Société is pleased to present fünfdreier, American artist Darren Bader’s 2.5th exhibition with the gallery. Working across a broad range of media, Bader’s experiments with language, misattribution, and chance consider the processes through which we ascribe value to objects and how they become art. “Contemporary art is by its very nature kind of a tenuous proposition and category,“ Bader claims, “I always sense these fault lines, and perhaps I’m overly sensitive to it — perhaps paranoid, I don’t know.”
The show is part-sequel to the 2020 demi-exhibition eBay sculpture. It presents a group of instruction-based sculptures. Amazon.com sculpture will take over the ground floor of the gallery. Visitors can access proposal for a fragrance via a QR code installed on the window by the entrance. garden (study) sits in Société’s courtyard. me will be activated on the second floor, where photographs I like is (also) on view.
1. proposal for a fragrance
The work has its owner collect commercially-produced fragrances to create a single, composite fragrance they’ll then attempt to market as a new commercial fragrance.* The composite should contain no less than 37 different pre-existing commercially-produced fragrances, none exceeding 8% of the composite liquid volume. When selecting fragrances for the composite, the owner should place emphasis on variety of packaging and pricing. Failure to earnestly attempt to market the composite fragrance effectively voids the work.**
*Multiple marketed composite fragrances are an option, but do not become multiple works.
**Earnest attempt(s) in the past do(es) not void the work in its post-marketed state.
2. com sculpture
The work has its owner purchase any number of things** from Amazon.com*. Once all the things are in the owner’s possession, they become a sculpture that is also the work. The owner can organize them as the mood strikes. It’s recommended the things be regarded rather than used.
If the owner would like to make an additional sculpture, that additional sculpture becomes the work; the previous sculpture(s) is(/are) no longer the work. In/if making additional sculptures, it’s recommended the owner continue to purchase things in a quantity similar to that of the first sculpture.
*Any national Amazon site, e.g. Amazon.in, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.mx, Amazon.etc, is suitable for the work. Multiple Amazon sites can be used to purchase things.
**NB e.g. a bag of M&Ms is 1 thing and 1 thing only, i.e. the M&Ms inside the bag can be used, but don’t amount to additional things purchased from Amazon.
3. garden (study)
Gather 280 or more of the lidded container seen in the photo provided.* Fill** each container with a different something; then secure the lid. Stack all the containers as evenly as possible and water them three or more times a week for many weeks, never exceeding twelve waterings a week. No fixatives should be used when stacking.
If a container cracks, it’s recommended it be responsibly disposed of and its contents*** transferred to an unused container.*
*I.e. clear, plastic, 8 ounce deli containers. Containers don’t need to be 100% identical, but do need to look very similar and be
dependably interchangeable.
**Upwards of 80% full is recommended.
***If its contents have spoiled/toxified, they should be transferred all the same.**** ****Up to a sanitary point, best discerned by the work’s owner (or proxy).
4. photographs I like
The work is a group of no less than 5 and no more than 50,000ish photographs its owner likes.
The majority of the photographs should be visually accessible* to people other than the owner.** Photographs should not be displayed in duplicate, triplicate, etc. The owner shouldn’t include more than a (relative) few photographs they’ve personally taken [created].***
If a photograph once liked is no longer liked, it can be removed from the group.
The work could be repeated****; repeats should be undertaken sparingly.
*Presumably printed***** and/or on-screen.
**And non-owners the owner (regularly) lives with and/or regularly shares a workplace with.
***Which isn’t to say they should include any.
****By the owner, not by proxies.
*****Framing (and/or mounting) isn’t necessary, but obviously brings its own qualities to an experience.
5. me
A work bringing no fewer than 40 participants* together in a single, enclosed** space. A non-participatory audience is optional.
As soon as prompted, each and every participant begins playing pre-recorded music from their smartphone*** (via streaming service, local files, etc). Speakers can be the phone’s*** internal speaker or wireless, portable speakers (presumably bluetooth). Volume should be medium-loud. Headphone use is not permitted.
Minimum work duration = 50 continuous minutes of music. If a participant wishes to fashion their 50 minute playlist in real time, they should be instructed in advance to play each new**** track immediately after their most recent track ends.
Standing/walking(/dancing) is recommended; sitting/lying on the floor/ground should be politely discouraged; if a wheelchair or medically-required seat/bed is needed, it is welcome.
*Humans, with sufficient presence of mind to understand their participation.
**Up to code is of course advisable; participants should be able to leave if needed.*****
***Tablet if preferred, but no concurrent or alternate use of phone/tablet.
****Repetition of songs should be discouraged.
*****Participants should be politely encouraged to stay.
February 16, 2023
6 – 8 pm
Darren Bader (b. 1978, Bridgeport) lives and works in New York. Selected solo exhibitions include Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; MADRE, Naples; Kölnischer Kunstverein; and MoMA PS1, New York. He has exhibited work in the 2019 Venice Biennale, 2015 Lyon Biennale, and 2014 Whitney Biennial, as well as in group exhibitions at UCCA, Beijing; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Kunsthalle Wien; Palais de Tokyo; and Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto.
Darren Bader
Amazon.com sculpture, 2018
The work has its owner purchase any number of things** from Amazon.com*. Once all the things are in the owner’s possession, they become a sculpture that is also the work. The owner can organize them as the mood strikes. It’s recommended the things be regarded rather than used.
If the owner would like to make an additional sculpture, that additional sculpture becomes the work; the previous sculpture(s) is(/are) no longer the work. In/if making additional sculptures, it’s recommended the owner continue to purchase things in a quantity similar to that of the first sculpture.
*Any national Amazon site, e.g. Amazon.in, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.mx, Amazon.etc, is suitable for the work. Multiple Amazon sites can be used to purchase things.
**NB e.g. a bag of M&Ms is 1 thing and 1 thing only, i.e. the M&Ms inside the bag can be used, but don’t amount to additional things purchased from Amazon.
Dimensions variable
Darren Bader, Amazon.com sculpture, 2018, exhibition view, Société, Berlin
Darren Bader, Amazon.com sculpture, 2018, exhibition view, Société, Berlin
Darren Bader, Amazon.com sculpture, 2018, exhibition view, Société, Berlin
Darren Bader, Amazon.com sculpture, 2018, exhibition view, Société, Berlin
Darren Bader, Amazon.com sculpture, 2018, exhibition view, Société, Berlin
Darren Bader, Amazon.com sculpture, 2018, exhibition view, Société, Berlin
Darren Bader, Amazon.com sculpture, 2018, exhibition view, Société, Berlin
Darren Bader
Amazon.com sculpture, 2018
The work has its owner purchase any number of things** from Amazon.com*. Once all the things are in the owner’s possession, they become a sculpture that is also the work. The owner can organize them as the mood strikes. It’s recommended the things be regarded rather than used.
If the owner would like to make an additional sculpture, that additional sculpture becomes the work; the previous sculpture(s) is(/are) no longer the work. In/if making additional sculptures, it’s recommended the owner continue to purchase things in a quantity similar to that of the first sculpture.
*Any national Amazon site, e.g. Amazon.in, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.mx, Amazon.etc, is suitable for the work. Multiple Amazon sites can be used to purchase things.
**NB e.g. a bag of M&Ms is 1 thing and 1 thing only, i.e. the M&Ms inside the bag can be used, but don’t amount to additional things purchased from Amazon.
Dimensions variable
Darren Bader, photographs I like, 2023, exhibition view, Société, Berlin
Darren Bader, photographs I like, 2023, exhibition view, Société, Berlin
Darren Bader, photographs I like, 2023, exhibition view, Société, Berlin
Darren Bader, photographs I like, 2023, exhibition view, Société, Berlin
Gather 280 or more of the lidded container seen in the photo provided.* Fill** each container with a different something; then secure the lid. Stack all the containers as evenly as possible and water them three or more times a week for many weeks, never exceeding twelve waterings a week. No fixatives should be used when stacking.
If a container cracks, it’s recommended it be responsibly disposed of and its contents*** transferred to an unused container.*
*I.e. clear, plastic, 8 ounce deli containers. Containers don’t need to be 100% identical, but do need to look very similar and be dependably interchangeable.
**Upwards of 80% full is recommended.
***If its contents have spoiled/toxified, they should be transferred all the same.****
****Up to a sanitary point, best discerned by the work’s owner (or proxy).
Darren Bader, garden (study), 2023, exhibition view, Société, Berlin
Darren Bader, garden (study), 2023, exhibition view, Société, Berlin