Endless Installation: A Ghost Story For Adults, an exhibition by Public Space With A Roof, started out with research into questions about architecture, the narrative of exhibition-making and current definitions of authorship. On Sunday April 26 the exhibition closes with a lecture by well-known curator Alex Farquharson (UK), who will discuss the blurring borders between the art work and the exhibition. After the lecture there will be drinks and two screenings centering around director Alexander Kluge (D). The finissage takes place inside the architectural structure which is the ‘brain’ of the exhibition, also serving as an amphitheatre.
When Can an Exhibition be a Work of Art?
Alex Farquharson’s lecture will consider the various issues that arise when the distinction between art work and exhibition becomes blurred, particularly with respect to what happens when artists absorb curatorial methods and exhibition design into their wide practice.
The Magic of the Darkened Soul
dir. Alexander Kluge, 2008, 49 min
In this recent work by Kluge, we see the fight against oppression. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is the choir director of an opera by Luigi Nono. But the choir won’t follow him. The title of the film is the result of a misunderstanding of a word at the screening of a documentary film about the Lumière brothers. The documentary film mentioned the 'magic of darkened theatres', referring to movie theatres. But the misunderstanding suits Kluge better and gives him the impetus for a new film.
All Emotions Believe in a Happy Ending: a documentary about Alexander Kluge
dir. Angelika Wittlich, 2002, 78 min
In Angelika Wittlich’s documentary, Kluge's incredible personality and talent shine through each frame. We find out more about his working methods, a creative process based on collaboration. We hear stories from his childhood and youth, and sincere and valuable accounts from the people he worked with. Interviews with Edgar Reitz, Hannelore Hoger, Christoph Sclingensief, Jutta Hoffmann, Oskar Negt, and Jürgen Habermas.
Endless Installation: A Ghost Story For Adults is a collection of various signs, texts, images, films, thoughts, fragments and books, all incorporated in the ‘brain’ of the exhibition: an architectural structure that also functions as an amphitheatre.
Public Space With a Roof is an initiative by artists Tamuna Chabashvili and Adi Hollander, and theoretician Vesna Madzoski. Their activities go beyond the usual notions of artists-as-social-activists, artists-as-producers, and artists-as-curators, blurring the borders between many roles assumed to be taken by present-day artists.
Alex Farquharson is Director of Nottingham Contemporary, which opens later this year. He is a curator and writer living in Nottingham and London.
Alexander Kluge is a director, intellectual, storyteller and critic. He is one of the key figures in the German film and television industry and a major force in the genesis and development of New German Cinema.
Exhibition open daily
Mon–Sat 12.00–22.00 hrs, Sun 13.00–22.00 hrs