20/9/2007
Michael Beutler
Portikus, Frankfurt
The development of Beutler's sculptural works is an integral part of the works themselves. The form and aesthetic of a given installation or sculpture are usually shaped by the architecture and particularities of the space in which the works are made.
Solo exhibition
The development of Michael Beutler’s sculptural works is an integral
part of the works themselves.
The form and aesthetic of a given installation or sculpture are
usually shaped by the architecture
and particularities of the space in which the works are made. In many
cases there is a prior interest
in a specific material which the artist then arranges in accordance
with the conditions dictated by
this space. Beutler’s approach is determinedly experimental. He
appropriates the formability and
potential uses of different materials and then links them with the
given or chosen spatial settings.
Michael Beutler is interested in serial production and the functional
aspect of building materials, but
he usually tries to go against their original purpose, working out
alternative uses for them and
developing unintended processing methods. To this end, he devises and
constructs his own apparatus
and machinery, which he then uses to work on the material as if in an
industrial production process.
In technical terms, however, Beutler prefers not to get too complex,
always sticking to simple mechanical
methods so that the formal processing of the material remains
visually identifiable.
As a result, Michael Beutler’s installations and sculptures always
have something literal about them and orient themselves
towards the ordinary scale of the space. The process of setting up
the show is to be understood as an experiment in which
the economies of space and material are placed in relation to one
another. The rhythm of the production process for the
individual components is legible in the surface and layering of the
material.
For his sculptural installation at Portikus, Beutler uses the full
height of the exhibition space. Using
metal grids which are clad in transparent paper and woven together
into surfaces, Michael Beutler
“builds” the outer skin of a room-filling sculpture.
Opening: 21 September 2007, 8 pm
Portikus
Alte Brucke 2 - Frankfurt