Contains no title page, title from spine. On the occasion of the exhibition "Das Institut," held at Serpentine Sackler Gallery, London, March 3 - May 15, 2016. Exhibition organised by Julia Peyton-Jones and Hans Ulrich Obrist.
Summary:
The Serpentine presented the first major exhibition of work by Kerstin Bratsch and Adele Roder in a UK public institution. Bratsch and Roder are based in New York and London. While each has her own practice, the artists have worked collaboratively as DAS INSTITUT since 2007. The exhibition at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery presented works resulting from their collaboration as well as pieces from their individual practices. In her work, Bratsch uses painting to question the ways in which the body can be expressed - psychologically, physically and socially - while Roder searches for basic symbolic forms to create a non-verbal language utilising clothing, posture and light. As DAS INSTITUT the artists attempt to communicate the inexpressible - the intuitive, irrational element of human experience and relationships. DAS INSTITUT focuses on the kinds of communication that occur between individuals, and this has led them to collaborate with other artists. Featured within the show were a number of additional contributions: a film by historian and filmmaker Alexander Kluge, a composition in light and sound by Sergei Tcherepnin, a series of traditional Hawaiian Hula dances organized by Ei Arakawa, and a fragmented portrait of Bratsch and Roder by Allison Katz. The exhibition DAS INSTITUT focused on the transformative properties and effects of light on bodies and spaces. The skylights of the gallery were covered with coloured gels and the key sources of light were the artworks themselves, as projected images, as stained glass and as neon shapes. Traces of Bratsch and Roder's own physical presence were also made visible: silhouettes and photographs of their bodies were incorporated into a number of works, such as the Am Sonntag Series (2014), while their faces and figures emerged through the surfaces of pieces, such as Dark Codex (Galerieanzeige).
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