Palle Nielsen
Chus Martinez
Tobi Maier
Katja Schroeder
Thomas Bayrle
Nils Norman
Tobias Rehberger
Following two historical projects from the 1960s and 1970s, one by the Danish artist Palle Nielsen, and the other by a group, the Frankfurter Kunstverein has transformed into a playground during one week in May. Children, adolescents and adults are invited to participate actively in the process of developing and experimenting.
Following two historical projects from the 1960s and 1970s, one by the Danish artist
Palle Nielsen, and the other by a group from the Hochschule für Gestaltung
Offenbach around Thomas Bayrle, Wolfgang Schmidt and their students Linette
Schönegge, Regina Henze and Karin Günther-Thoma, the Frankfurter Kunstverein
will be transformed into a playground during one week in May. Children, adolescents
and adults are invited to participate actively in the process of developing and
experimenting. The idea, an initiative of Chus Martínez, Tobi Maier and Katja
Schroeder, will be realized with the help of the artists Palle Nielsen, Thomas Bayrle
and groups of students from Städelschule in Frankfurt and the art academy in
Copenhagen supported by their professors Nils Norman (Copenhagen) and Tobias
Rehberger (Frankfurt). This special project will extend over the entire exhibition
space of the Frankfurter Kunstverein.
In October 1968 the Danish artist Palle Nielsen installed a huge adventure
playground at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, called The Model for a Qualitative
Society. For three weeks the kids were the active subjects in the exhibition space and
their free play epitomized freedom and creativity. The second project that serves as a
reference took place on the grounds of the Frankfurt fair in. Similar to Nielsen’s
adventure playground the group of students from the Hochschule für Gestaltung in
Offenbach turned the main exhibition venue of the fairground in Frankfurt into a
Kinderplanet, a planet for children. Both of these historical projects pose elemental
questions: which kind of social space can art produce? How does a community of
players, visitors and other citizens constitute itself? What space is available for
community activities in contemporary society? With these questions in mind the
Frankfurter Kunstverein will, during one week, turn into a huge playground and
space for experimentation.
In addition to helping develop the playground for 'The Great Game to Come' the team
of Umwelt-Exploratorium (UX e.V.) is going to be present during the week and offer
workshops for students at the Kunstverein. Together they will develop a huge floating
solar powered balloon. UX e.V. is a charitable association based in Frankfurt which
was founded by former students from the product design department of Hochschule
für Gestaltung Offenbach. Their aim is to work with current tendencies in our
environment and to illustrate its transformations through collaborative projects.
During this project the Frankfurter Kunstverein will provide information about the
„historical“ projects offering various sources of documentation.
This project is a cooperation between the Frankfurter Kunstverein, Staatliche
Hochschule für Bildende Künste - Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main, The Royal
Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Visual Arts in Copenhagen and Umwelt-
Exploratorium (UX e.V.). We would like to thank the Deutsche Bank, the PwCStiftung
Jugend – Bildung – Kultur and Montana for the kind support of the project.
Opening: May 13, 2008, 7 pm
Frankfurter Kunstverein
Steinernes Haus am Römerberg, Frankfurt am Main