P-A-N-T-S-D-O-W-N at Dortmunder Kunstverein

Artists: Gerrit Frohne-Brinkmann, Nicola Gördes, Stella Rossié, Paul Spengemann

Exhibition title: P-A-N-T-S-D-O-W-N

Curated by: Oriane Durand and Linda Schröer

Venue: Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund, Germany

Date: July 29 – September 9, 2018

Photography: Simon Vogel / all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Dortmunder Kunstverein

With P-A-N-T-S-D-O-W-N, Nicola Gördes (* 1987, Lennestadt), Stella Rossié (* 1989, Bochum), Paul Spengemann (* 1987, Henstedt-Ulzburg) and Gerrit Frohne-Brinkmann
(* 1990, Friesoythe) conceived their first joint exhibition.

Completely clothed in red foil, the four artists transform the Dortmunder Kunstverein into a strange parallel world: The space is desolate in a state between assembly installation and dismantling, the exhibition programme seems to be abandoned. However, from twilight to night, strange sounds penetrate through the window panes: electronic music, clinking and noise. In spots the foil is scratched which allows a peepshow-like look at mysterious scenes inside. In addition to real objects placed in the space, morphed protagonists float ghostly in the room: ordinary but also disreputable drinking glasses, small sculptures and frivolous, glass objects – many of them have been animated and brought to life with the help of hologram technology.

A technique discovered in the second half of the 19th century, known as the “Pepper’s Ghost” effect, which is now used commercially as well as politically. Among others, 2PAC, Michael Jackson and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were staged. The hereby implicit phenomenon of the present absence reflects the special starting point of the closed Kunstverein. The exhibition’s themes also mirror its glass architecture and its geographical location: Not far from the erotic shop Orion on the Rheinische Straße, not far from the former porn cinema Studio X near the main train station, Beate Uhse and the shops with kitsch and trash erotic like Tedi and Woolwoorth in downtown. These are all locations that are alive at different times of the day.

Little by little, the events inside develop a story: from the collaborative activity of glass moving to the subsequent gathering in the form of a party to a final rampant escalation of the situation. These are all collective actions that are performed here and their functions and characteristics are reflected.

Beyond that, the scene of the glass moving symbolizes the collaboration of the four artists and the process of developing a new artistic work when sometimes one, sometimes the other, sometimes all together or maybe none of them steer the result in a particular direction.

With P-A-N-T-S-D-O-W-N, the artists create a humorous transformation of the partly outdated, contemporary-like glass objects into futuristic-looking, transparent and playful hologram figures. The artistic media sculpture, film, video and performance usually used in their individual works merge in the hologram which hereby expands our existing conceptions of these media. At the same time, they subtly open up a dialogue about the conditions of artistic creation as well as exhibition making.

P-A-N-T-S-D-O-W-N, 2018, exhibition view, Dortmunder Kunstverein