Artist: Reto Pulfer
Exhibition title: Erinnerungshäuser
Venue: Grimmuseum, Berlin, Germany
Date: November 29, 2014 – January 31, 2015
Photography: Courtesy of the artist and Hollybush Gardens (London)
Grimmuseum is pleased to present new works by Swiss artist Reto Pulfer in his solo exhibition “Erinnerungshäuser” (= houses of memory) from November 29, 2014 until January 31, 2015. Pulfer uses painting, drawing, music, performance and language to create “Zustände” (= states, conditions) – moments of transition. These states are stable and yet ephemeral since a transformation into another state is possible at every moment. Zustände are a result of Pulfer’s personal recurring engagement with subjects such as memory, astronomy, expression, language and transformation. Against this background, he creates installations that expand through space, consisting of textiles, wood, everyday materials and found objects. At Grimmusuem Pulfer presents different states of memory in form of houses that can be investigated and experienced by the audience.
“This exhibition is inspired by the Mnemonics – an antique method of remembering. One first imagines empty rooms and then places figures and action inside. Afterwards, one can “walk” through this imagined architecture in order to remember things. Erinnerungshäuser, 2009-2015 or Houses of Memory is a work-in-progress of immersive room-filling installations that looks at different states of memory. The first work the visitor encounters, Demenzraum Material, is made out of black ink stained textile. This room is dedicated to my grandmother Frieda Häsler who suffered from dementia towards the end of her life. Holzraum is a borromini-esque room made of massive wooden boards and filled with objects that may usually be stored in an attic. Just like other astronomical architecture, one enters Sternengewölbe Himmelszelt counter-clockwise, imitating the movement of the sky. The stories that are told by the constellations of the night sky were imagined in order to know the orientation and the seasons. Thyme Change Theme Park, 2005 -2010 is not part of the series, however, it is a similar work comprising a collection of studio works and raw materials selected on the subject of temporality. To contrast this plenitude, few smaller artworks are exhibited.” (Reto Pulfer, 2014)
As part of the exhibition, a concert by “Eisklares Echo” by Mia von Matt and Reto Pulfer will take place on Friday, December 12 at 9pm. In addition, we are looking forward to “Ein Abend der Worte” – a reading by Reto Pulfer with an introductory conversation between Reto Pulfer and Falke Pisano on Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 7pm.
