this time it was not an empty shop or vacant flat that awaited us, but a complex of ateliers, workshops and exhibition halls – the former sausage factory in hamburg-altona was to be our home for the next one-and-a-half weeks. even though we arrived at midnight we were still met in grand style: the gallerist we had been invited by welcomed us with a fully furnished backstage room, a rolling door which let our heavily loaded culture-car directly into the complex and pasta hearts from the nocturnal soup kitchen – yum, yum, the rattle and hum of artwork in progress.

shortly afterwards we received a package from moscow containing brooch-like items which were to be the cherry on top of the installation “auftakt II”. their magical powers were so great that the customs officials at moscow airport had failed to notice them as they sailed through the x-ray machine in a piece of hand luggage. with watches synchronized and everything going to schedule, the institut für wahre kunst set about preparing its fourth exhibition.

just in time for the kunstaltonale event, our exhibition opened at 3 p.m. on the 5th of june. this gave us the luxury of an hour to not only put the highly recommended rhubarb spritzer and a sizeable number of astra stubbies in the freezer, but also delicately fragrance some mineral water with mint and lemon. english shuttle taxis then began to deposit hordes of art-interested guests at our door. a curator led the buzzing crowd through our exhibition and did her best to manage the invasions which took place every half an hour. the onset of darkness saw the night owls assume responsibility for proceedings – and prove themselves to be highly adept at artistic interaction.

with the gallery closed on mondays, we took the opportunity to hop on the ferry and criss-cross the harbour – inhaling hamburg’s particular brand of weather as we sailed. the evening in wandsbek-gartenstadt brought words in praise of the anchor and a lovingly prepared crab salad.

strengthened by this sustenance, we took a long run-up and charged towards our second hamburg coup of the summer. the realization of “a small rain dampens a big storm” at the dockville festival might present us with obstacles, but even without them we had to jump: up, over and beyond.

an exhibition featuring works by:

:: nina schmidt :: saskia göldner ::
:: elke jänicke  :: lysann németh :: 

with the on-off gallery supposed to switch to its “off” mode during the spring of this year, it can be said that the exhibition we opened in that self-same space on the 5th of june was a ghost of the most lively kind. still somewhat bashful about exhibiting in a “real gallery” for the first time, we accepted the invitation sent by ike clef-prahm and set forth further north. we passed magdeburg, hannover and fallingbostel, continued north, crossed the elbe bridges and arrived in hamburg.

for a change, we did not have to carry out renovation work or write press releases in advance. for a change, we did exactly what it says on the institut tin: we looked after the artistic side of things, simply turned up and integrated ourselves and our work into a well-feathered nest.
how wonderfully unusual. how unusually wonderful.

the exhibition “state of emergency” not only described the general risks associated with being a “freelance artist”, but also – and in particular – revealed the details of the existential measures it necessitates and the boundaries which are/need to be/must be crossed. it showed that a quick glance into the rear-view mirror can be enough to place older work into an entirely new context, with packaging waste mistaken for basic foodstuffs in extreme cases. we also blended determination with knightly stamina to present a range of new works in new fields. it was a leap into the unknown. we hoped for the best – and a siege.

05.–12.06.10 :: 3 to 8 p.m.
celsiusweg 13
22761 hamburg