 | Ayse Erkmen (TR, D)
Pleasant Corners
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Pleasant Corners, 2009
10 installations
Aluminium composite panels, lacquered
Karmeliterplatz, Burggasse/Dom, Künstlerhaus underground car park ventilation, Jakominiplatz, Schloßbergplatz, Schloßberg clocktower, Südtiroler Platz, Mariahilferplatz, Esperantoplatz, Volksgarten
Ayse Erkmen is familiar with the city of Graz thanks to her participation in the exhibition “Inclusion : Exclusion” in steirischer herbst in 1996, for which she removed some of the panes of glass at the entrance to Künstlerhaus. Visiting the city more than ten years later, she is now seeing every last corner of the centre of Graz filled with various objects, from street lights and public transport shelters to restaurant furniture and sandwich boards. And then the numerous events organised by a wide variety of interest groups, that all make use of the public space. This has actually caused the city space to ‘shrink’ quite drastically, and the purpose of the inserted objects is no longer always clear – least of all for non-locals. The forms and signs of these non-‘readable’ objects are often such that the overall impression is reminiscent of Roland Barthes’ thoughts that he wrote down in his book “Empire of Signs” (“L’Empire des signes”, 1966) during his first visit to Japan.
What is the point of a sculpture in the public space any more? Should we really insert another sign in this already overcrowded system, and what messages are still possible? Similar to Barthes in terms of methodology, Erkmen acknowledges the various interests and positions and opts for a strategy of decentralisation and pluralisation: the objects, both multiple and individual, jigsaw-like elements in different colours, shapes and sizes, that the artist applies to several sites around the city, create a kind of ‘countermyth’ (Barthes). Because of their dimensions, the sign-like objects readily allow the viewer to relate physically to them. Moreover, Erkmen places her objects in an immediate relation to objects already present in the city space in such a way that the existing facilities practically support the inserted art objects.
Commissioned by steirischer herbst
Project sponsor Think!
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25/09 - 18/10
Utopia and Monument I
Fri 25/09, 6 pm
Vernissage at the exhibition pavilion, Platz der Freiwilligen Schützen / Bad zur Sonne
public space
Ayse Erkmen
Born in Istanbul (TR) in 1949, lives in Istanbul and Berlin (D).
25/09 - 18/10
Utopia and Monument I
Fri 25/09, 6 pm
Vernissage at the exhibition pavilion, Platz der Freiwilligen Schützen / Bad zur Sonne
public space
Ayse Erkmen
Born in Istanbul (TR) in 1949, lives in Istanbul and Berlin (D).
