Double Bound Economies
dal 20/6/2013 al 2/8/2013
Segnalato da
Tekle Belete
KP Brehmer
Seiichi Furuya
Allan Sekula
Noël Burch
Olaf Nicolai
The Otolith Group
Armin Linke
Doreen Mende
Estelle Blaschke
20/6/2013
Double Bound Economies
Galerie Thomas Fischer, Berlin
The show is about reading an East German photo archive. This non-institutional archive was created between 1967 and 1990 by the freelance photographer Reinhard Mende, who was commissioned by various GDR combines and the trade fair in Leipzig. The exhibition shows artistic interventions into the archive and contributions by 10 autors.
“Double Bound Economies” begins with a photo archive from the German Democratic Republic
(GDR). The photographer of the archive is Reinhard Mende. Produced as commissioned works,
these photographs document and dramatize the situation of productions in Volkseigene Betriebe (VEBs; people-owned enterprises) and the Internationale Leipziger Messe from 1967
to 1990.
The trade fair in Leipzig was then the most important site of trade between the East and
the West, and so these photographs in particular mark an economic space that had two sets
of ties: socialist ones, in terms of its production, and capitalist ones, in terms of its
presentation. They included ties to the countries of the former Non-Socialist economic
region, such as the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), Sweden, and France, as well as
countries that since the mid-1970s had been involved in revolutionary struggles for liberation, such as Angola, Mozambique, and Ethiopia.
From that starting point, “Double Bound Economies” moves toward contemporary artistic and
spatial positions, historical and theoretical analyses, and the production of an interview project with contemporary witnesses. The various forms of practice, both in terms of
reading the archive and of the sometimes independent actions of the artists, raises the
following core question: What forms of articulation are available to us to grasp the contradictions of the mutual involvements of socialism and capitalism in the form of design
and visual production and to make them useful for current problems?
“Double Bound Economies” is centered on collective practice as a method of bringing
things up-to-date, both in relation to the presentation of the archive and in the spirit
of a curatorial method. Artists, theorists, scholars, and former participants were invited to view, comment on, or select from the archive. This collective work method resulted
in a polyphonic dramatization of the archive while also reporting on a nonlinear approach
to the GDR.
"Double Bound Economies“ is directed by the curatorial team of Estelle Blaschke, Armin Linke, and Doreen Mende. It consists of a traveling exhibition (architecture: Kuehn Malvezzi), a
publication (Spector Books, Leipzig) and a website that will make the archive accessible to the
public for the long term ( www.doubleboundeconomies.net ).
After exhibiting „Double Bound Economies“ in Leipzig (Halle 14 – Center for Contemporary Art),
Geneva (Centre de la photographie) und Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), the exhibition can now be seen at Galerie Thomas Fischer, Berlin from 22 June to 3 August 2013.
Contributors to the exhibition at Galerie Thomas Fischer:
Tekle Belete, b. 1928, photographer (ET); KP Brehmer, 1938-1997, artist (D); Seiichi Furuya, b.
1950, photographer (J/AT); Reinhard Mende, 1930-2012, photographer (D); Olaf Nicolai b. 1962,
artist (D); Allan Sekula, b. 1951, artist/theorist (USA) and Noël Burch, b. 1932 critic/filmmaker (USA); The Otolith Group, artists/theorists (GB).
Further contributors to „Double Bound Economies“:
Bettina Allamoda, b. 1964, artist (D); Peter Herbert Beyer, b. 1933, designer (D); Fabian
Bechtle, b. 1980, artist (D); Hans-Otto Bräutigam, b. 1931, diplomat (D); Haile Gabriel Dagne, b. 1941, diplomat (ET); Paola de Martin, b. 1965, design historian (CH); Harun Farocki, b.
1944, artist (D); Mark Fisher, b. 1968, theorist (UK); Laure Giletti, b. 1986, graphic designer
(F); Sven Johne, b. 1976, artist (D); Matthias Judt, b. 1962, economic historian (D); Kiluanji
Kia Henda, b. 1978, artist (AO); Helgard Hirschfeld, b. 1949, archivist (D); Valeria Malito,
b. 1984, design student (IT) and Katja Saar, b. 1984, design student (D); Kuehn Malvezzi, architects (D, IT); Katrin Mayer, b. 1974, artist (D); Kerstin Stakemeier, b. 1975, art historian
(D); Philip Ursprung, b. 1963, art historian (CH); Thomas Weski, b. 1953, curator (D); Malte
Wandel, b. 1982, artist (D); Christopher Williams, b. 1956, artist (USA, D).
The project was funded by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation).
Image: Reinhard Mende, 04439_05, Vertreterempfang in Falstaff, Rundgang Minister Mozambique, 16.03.1978
The opening reception will be held on Friday, 21 June at 6pm.
Galerie Thomas Fischer
Potsdamer Straße 77-87, Haus H 10785 Berlin
Opening hours Tuesday-Saturday 11-18h