Ignacio Uriarte
dal 2/5/2014 al 29/6/2014
Segnalato da
2/5/2014
Ignacio Uriarte
Berlinische Galerie, Berlin
Counting (for) eight hours. In this new sound installation the monotonous voice of a man is heard steadily counting away for eight hours. This piece is a further exploration of work and time, themes that have been a distinctive feature of Uriarte's output to date and have their roots in his own biography.
From 4 May 2014 the foyer of the Berlinische Galerie will hum to the new sound installation
“Acht Stunden zählen” (Counting (for) eight hours) by Ignacio Uriarte (*1972 in Krefeld).
In this installation the monotonous voice of a man is heard steadily counting away for eight
hours. Strikingly, the units of time are syllables, each one lasting a second. In the course of
eight hours the German speaker reaches the figure 3599. Uriarte’s installation is not only a
reference to the span of time accounted for by a typical working day and the museum’s own
daily opening hours. It also reflects the connection between time as an abstract category and
language as a way of structuring and defining it.
This piece is a further exploration of work and time, themes that have been a distinctive feature
of Uriarte’s output to date and have their roots in his own biography: Uriarte trained in business
and worked for a number of big companies before devoting his career to art.
Office routines are a key theme in his oeuvre. While apparently designed to serve maximum
efficiency, all too often they have the opposite effect: routine leads to boredom and leaves a
little bit of scope for creative escape. The best example are those doodles people draw when on
the phone, which Uriarte picks up in his “Xonox scribblings” (2008) and turns into a serial art
object. He makes frequent use of simple office materials like A4 paper, printer cartridges and
ballpoint pens, quoting the Minimal Art of the 1960s with his clear structures and dispensing
largely with an overtly subjective artistic presence.
From 1992 to 1995 Ignacio Uriarte studied Business Administration in Mannheim and Madrid,
and from 1999 to 2001 Audio-Visual Art at the Centro de Artes Audiovisuales in Guadalajara,
Mexico. Among the venues to exhibit his works are Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Utah Museum
of Contemporary Art; and The Drawing Center, New York. He lives and works in Berlin.
Implementation with the kind support of Ilse-Augustin-Stiftung
Image: Acht Stunden zählen, 2014 ©Ignacio Uriarte. Graphic: Thoma+Schekorr
Susanne Kumar-Sinner
Head of Marketing &
Communications
Fon +49 (0)30 789 02 – 829
kumar-sinner@berlinischegalerie.de
Fiona Finke
Marketing & Communications
Fon +49 (0)30 789 02 – 833
finke@berlinischegalerie.de
Opening with brunch: 03.05.2014, 11am. Free Admission to the museum 10am–noon
Berlinische Galerie
Alte Jakobstraße 124–128 - 10969 Berlin
Opening hours
Wednesday–Monday 10am–6pm
closed on Tuesday
closed on 24.12. and 31.12.
Admission
Day ticket 8 Euro
Concessions and groups of 10 or more 5 Euro
Every 1st Monday of the month: 4 Euro
Admission free for visitors under 18
Reduced admission with a ticket from the Jewish Museum Berlin on the day of visit and the next two days. This offer is effective vice versa.