Artists: Ei Arakawa, Lutz Bacher, Julie Becker, Kerstin Brätsch, Gino De Dominicis/Claudio Abate, Willem de Rooij, Stano Filko, Dan Graham, Christian Jankowski, John Miller, Christian Naujoks, Mai-Thu Perret, Emily Segal, Studio for Propositional Cinema, Sung Tieu, Andrea Tippel, Camilla Wills, and a proposition by CASE
Exhibition title: Stars Down to Earth
Invited by: Sung Tieu and Nicholas Tammens
Venue: Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin, Germany
Date: October 31 – December 22, 2021
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Galerie Barbara Weiss is pleased to present Stars Down to Earth. The group exhibition brings together artistic investigations into astrology, alternative belief systems and the ways in which these pseudoscientific disciplines can colour experience, knowledge, identification, and our social interactions. The title of the exhibition is borrowed from an essay by Theodor Adorno, which uses the astrology column of the Los Angeles Times as a fulcrum for a larger analysis of normative, and ideological dynamics in mass culture. In this context, astrology is analogous to approaches of structuring interpretation or reading, the perception of the viewer, and alternative forms of identification or representation. The exhibition comprises works that touch on these themes, from the humorous to the more unsettling ways in which our egos are exaggerated, distorted and then reflected back to us.
As a system of understanding, it seems to be a matrix that persists as a deterministic form of identification while identities of all kinds are brought into contention. A determinism — derived not from society but by the contingency of a person or thing’s time or place in the cosmos — provides a certainty that tempers feelings of unknowing. As the ideal introduction to small talk, a banal measure for social compatibility, or a rigid belief system, we lean into it as a language of social interaction and recognition. The Virgo, or Cancer, or Sagittarius acts a certain way, embodying traits compatible or antagonistic to the Aries, or Aquarius, or Taurus. This is a kind of ideological architecture, one in which we participate in a distorted perception of our own image. It allows us to comfort ourselves in a reality that otherwise seems uncertain.
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Sung Tieu
Inner Wheel
Nicholas Tammens – Natal Sung Tieu – Natal Composite – Midpoints (9) Geocentric
Tropical
Porphyry
True Node
Outer Wheel Exhibition
Natal Chart (8)
31 Oct 2021, Sun 20:00 CET-1:00
Berlin (Ost), Germany 52°N32’ 013°E25’ Geocentric
Tropical Porphyry
True Node, 2021
engraving on stainless steel
10 x 10 x 1.25 cm | 4 x 4 x 1/2 in
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Sung Tieu
Inner Wheel Nicholas Tammens Natal Chart (6)
6 May 1989, Tue 20:00 AEST – 10:00 Burnie, Australia 41°S04′ 145°E54′ Geocentric Tropical
Porphyry
True Node
Outer Wheel Exhibition
Natal Chart (8)
31 Oct 2021, Sun 20:00 CET-1:00
Berlin (Ost), Germany 52°N32’ 013°E25’ Geocentric
Tropical Porphyry
True Node, 2021
engraving on stainless steel
10 x 10 x 1.25 cm | 4 x 4 x 1/2 in
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Andrea Tippel, Morgen oder Abendstimme Sopran, 1978, pencil, coloured pencil, gold and silver on paper, 40 x 28.5 cm, 15 3/4 x 11 1/4 in
Andrea Tippel, ohne Titel, 1973, pencil and coloured pencil on paper, 30.5 x 22.6 cm, 12 x 9 in
Andrea Tippel, Elice und der große Wagen, 1976, ink, pencil and coloured pencil on paper, 43 x 30.5 cm, 17 x 12 in
Andrea Tippel, Nichs in Sicht!, 1976, pencil and coloured pencil on paper 43 x 30.5 cm, 17 x 12 in
Christian Jankowski, Telemistica, 1999, video installation (standard definition, colour, sound) 21:55 min
Christian Jankowski, Telemistica, 1999, video installation (standard definition, colour, sound) 21:55 min
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Lutz Bacher, The Celestial Handbook, 2011, 85 framed offset printed book pages, 19 of 85 elements, 25.5 x 17.5 cm, 10 x 7 in
Sung Tieu
Inner Wheel
Sung Tieu
Natal Chart (5)
12 Jul 1987, Sun 6:45 USZ6-7:00
Hai Duong, Vietnam 20°N56’ 106°E19’ Geocentric
Tropical Porphyry True Node
Outer Wheel Exhibition
Natal Chart (8)
31 Oct 2021, Sun 20:00 CET-1:00
Berlin (Ost), Germany 52°N32’ 013°E25’ Geocentric
Tropical Porphyry
True Node, 2021
engraving on stainless steel
10 x 10 x 1.25 cm | 4 x 4 x 1/2 in
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Stano Filko, PHYLKO. From the series Virtual Painting, c. early-1990s, paint, pencil, coloured pencil, paper, plastic slide sleeves in 9 parts, 9 pieces, each 28 x 23.5 cm, 34 1/4 x 28 1/3 in
Lutz Bacher, The Celestial Handbook, 2011, 85 framed offset printed book pages, 18 of 85 elements, 25.5 x 17.5 cm, 10 x 7 in
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Stano Filko, From the series VAKUUM 3.4.5.D, c. 2005, Pen, felt-tip pen, color Xerox copy, paper, 29.7 x 42 cm, 11 2/3 x 16 1/2 in
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Camilla Wills, Paint and Unused Titles, 2021, jars, paint, paper, sellotape
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Julie Becker, Interior corner #3, 1993, c-print, 90.8 x 71 cm, 35 3/4 x 28 in
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Kerstin Brätsch, Fossil Psychic For Christa (Stucco Marmo), 2020, Plaster, pigments, glue, wax and oil on honeycomb, felt, 48 x 40 x 5 cm, 19 x 15 3/4 x 2 in
Camilla Wills, A concept of order in no-mans land, 2021, pharmaceutical pigments (industrial pigments used in prescription stimulant and depressant tablets) on canvas, wooden frame, 235 x 275 cm, 92 1/2 x 108 1/4 in
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Julie Becker, Interior corner #5, 1993, c-print, 90.8 x 71 cm, 35 3/4 x 28 in
Mai-Thu Perret, Every Man and Every Woman #2, 2007, wood, lacquer, wire, 80 x 80 x 80 cm, 31 1/2 x 31 1/2 x 31 1/2 in
Mai-Thu Perret, Every Man and Every Woman #2, 2007, wood, lacquer, wire, 80 x 80 x 80 cm, 31 1/2 x 31 1/2 x 31 1/2 in
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Claudio Abate, Gino De Dominicis “Zodiaco”, 1970, inkjet print on cotton rag, 53 x 63 cm, 20 3/4 x 24 3/4 in
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Emily Segal, Mercury Retrograde: A Novel, book, published by Deluge Books, 2020
Ei Arakawa, Performance People (7630 Sukiyaki, December 17, 1973, 18:00PM, Buffalo, NY), 2018, LED strips on hand-dyed fabric, 2 LED transmitters, 10 power supplies, 2 SD cards, metal, wire, 201 x 154 x 33 cm, 79 1/4 x 60 2/3 x 13 in
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
Kerstin Brätsch, Fossil Psychic For Christa (Stucco Marmo), 2020, Plaster, pigments, glue, wax and oil on honeycomb, felt, 39 x 46 x 6 cm, 15 1/3 x 18 x 2 1/3 in
Stars Down to Earth, 2021, exhibition view, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin
John Miller, Untitled (11-31-21), 2021, inkjet print, 13.2 x 16.6 cm, 5 1/4 x 6 1/2 in
Dan Graham, Whirligig (Round and Around), 2019, Two-way mirror glass, aluminium, wood, acrylic, 92 x 125 x 125 cm, 36 1/4 x 49 1/4 x 49 1/4 in
Studio for Propositional Cinema, The End, 2021, Two parts: 1) silkscreen print on glass, mirror, aluminium frame; 2), cyanotype on archival paper, glass, aluminium frame, Two parts: 83 x 59 cm | 35 x 23 1/4 in (each)
Studio for Propositional Cinema, The End, 2021, Two parts: 1) silkscreen print on glass, mirror, aluminium frame; 2), cyanotype on archival paper, glass, aluminium frame, Two parts: 83 x 59 cm | 35 x 23 1/4 in (each)