ALEXANDER GUTKE - Galerija Gregor Podnar.

ALEXANDER GUTKE
PORTFOLIO
Lindenstr. 35 | 10969 Berlin | Germany | tel. +49 30 259 346 51 | fax +49 30 259 346 52 | berlin@gregorpodnar.com | www.gregorpodnar.com
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Measure
Laser engraved brass Moebius strip, 69 x 14 x 3 cm, ed. 5 + AP, 2011
A wall hung sculpture made from sheet brass, which has been twisted and turned into the shape of a moebius strip.
The sheet brass has been laser engraved with markings indicating millimeters and centimeters and bent into a
shape similar to a flexible tape measure.
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17 Dagar (Stormgatan 4)
C print, 70 x 70 cm unframed, ed. 3 + AP, 2011
The first step of the final photographic work is a photograph of the artist's white studio wall. Once this photograph is
printed, it is photographed again, hung on the same wall, at the same time (approximately same light) the day after.
This step is repeated 17 times. The blue color appeared form the saturation, due to the repetition, of a tiny cold
tone from the studio's neon light.
"17 dagar (days) refers to the period it was made, while the address to my studio tells you about the location of the
wall, which is the whole idea about the piece, -that it represents a time and a place." A. Gutke
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Exhibition view at Nordenhake, Stockholm, 2010.
Singularity
16 mm negative film + two copies, loop system (wheels), variable dimensions, ed. of 4 + AP, 2010
In the far corner of a fully lit room, a 16mm projector, placed on the floor, projects a silent film directly onto the wall.
The small projected image shows a tape measure continuously unreeling before the lens, millimeter by millimeter.
The film is fed through the projector and continues via film spools along the edges of the room, following the floor,
then upwards along the wall, the ceiling and down to the floor again, drawing an outline of the room in an intricate
loop-system. The projected image, together with the film-loopʼs physical extension throughout the room, give the
impression that the space is being measured, while in reality, the relation between the tape measure, the
movement of the film stock and the dimensions of the room, are completely arbitrary. Instead the piece illustrates a
time-space where the established laws of physics have ceased to exist.
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Detail
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Film still
1-2-3-4
Animation, HD Video 1080p, duration: 2' 03'', looped, ed. of 4 + AP, 2010
A silver snare drum is seen in the center of the projected image inside a white room. Drum sticks drop from above
and hit the drum skin, its rim and the wooden floor around it. After a hesitating first few seconds, among which
sticks fall with a sporadic irregularity, they begin to flood down like rain, bouncing off the drum and the floor,
projecting toward the viewer's space, and filling the room with the sound of a randomly improvised drum solo.
The title 1-2-3-4 could be read as an attempt to bring order in an otherwise chaotic sequence of direct hits,
rimshots and misses, or simply as the 'counting in' of a punk song.
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Exhibition views at Galerija Gregor Podnar, Berlin, 2008
Cine-scope
Animation HD Video 1080p, duration: 7', looped, ed. of 4 + AP, 2008
This large-scale, high-definition video projection is a looped trompe-lʼœil animation that creates the illusion of
penetrating the lamina of a filmstrip. Combining real scratches on a 16 mm piece of celluloid with animated chafes
and dust, Cine-scope is an attempt to generate the optical sensation of passing through a forest of markings, blots
and vertical shadows. This work could be said to provoke a trance-like state similar to the one developing while
watching an uneventful film, where texture comes to replace any narrative content.
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Universe
Slide-projector Kodak Carousel, stand, 81 slides, variable dimensions, ed. of 4 + AP, 2008
The word “carousel”, designating the rotating tray of a slide projector, is projected 81 times on the wall. Each slide
show the printed word – an exact replica of the original Kodak Carousel logo – under different angles, as if
revolving on itself, moving through the surface of the wall Step by step, it turns in perspective and away until
achieving a 360° revolution. One has the feeling that the word follows the movement of the carousel. The rotating
image tells a never ending, looping story about time and space.
Universe can be seen as a “companion piece” to Alexander Gutkeʼs earlier works Lighthouse or Exploded View.
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Camera
Powder coated steel, photographic emulsion, 55 x 52 x 22 cm, ed. of 3 + AP, 2008
Camera is a steel model based on descriptions of Thomas Edisonʼs Kinetographic Theater, also known as “Black
Maria”, built in 1893 in West Orange, New Jersey for the purpose of making filmstrips for the Kinetoscope (movie
viewer).
The model is covered with photographic emulsion: that turns it into an exposed negative absorbing its surroundings
like a symbolic black hole. An allegory of no mean proportions, Camera reflects cinemaʼs simultaneous absorption
and production of reality, for this building – the world's first film production studio – is mythically responsible for
changing the way the world perceives itself.
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Exhibition views at Galerija Gregor Podnar, Berlin, 2008
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Untitled (for Christian Andersson)
Powder coated steel, mirror, two-ways mirror, CCFL light tubes, 32 x 47 x 54 cm, ed. of 3 + AP, 2007
Untitled (for Christian Andersson) is a black box placed on the floor with its lid wide open. The box is equipped with
a two-way mirror, a classical mirror, and CCFL light tubes in order to open a virtual space inside the box and give
the illusion of an infinite tunnel of light.
The title both acknowledges the influence of the artistʼs friend Christian Andersson and is also a hint towards Dan
Flavin, who usually dedicates his neon pieces to someone
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Subtraktion
Ink stamp on paper, 170 x 150 cm, ongoing series, 2007
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Subtraktion, nr 2, 2007, detail
Subtraktion, nr 4, detail, close up
Subtraktion shows the phrase “all the colors of the dark” repeatedly stamped in cyan, magenta and yellow on a
large piece of paper. Since Alexander Gutke used the primaries favored for a subtractive combination of colors (as
in mixing of pigments or dyes, such as in printing), the superposition of stamped words generates a near-black blob
on the page.
In theory, mixing equal amounts of all three pigments should produce grey, resulting in black when all three are
applied in sufficient density, but in practice they tend to produce muddy brown colors. Here, each ink stamp
subtracts light from the white surface, producing, indeed, “all the colors of the dark”. What weʼre left with is the
remains of a ritual where the repeated use of the sentence works almost as an incantation – which intends to
defeat light.
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SnerohT
Customized record player (TD 165 MKII), 43 x 34 x 16 cm, ed. of 5 + AP, 2007
This piece consists of a ʻmirroredʼ replica of a Thorens turntable, a classic standard record player which design
remained largely unchanged since the 1976. The artist “inverted” its design and functions in a subtle and precise
way: the turntable is actually fully functional and could be used to play vinyl records backwards. It thus refers to
potential subversive messages or actions that could be performed with it, even though the artist does not formally
wish to see it happen.
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Stretch
Molded plastic, pigment, ca. 45 x 35 x 7 cm, ed. of 6 + 2 AP, 1999 – 2007
Inspired by high-speed photography, Stretch is an attempt at representing the ripple movement caused by a drop of
water hitting the surface of a puddle. The sculpture, cast in bluish translucent plastic, represents the puddle
movements during 1/6 second, condensed in one frozen image.
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Lighthouse
Slide Installation, Kodak Carousel projector, 81 slides, ed. of 4 + AP, 2006
Lighthouse is a slide installation that, similarly to Universe, takes a Kodak Carousel slide projector as its formal
starting point.
A white rectangle, resembling an empty slide, is projected onto the wall in an animation of 81 slides. Each slide
shows the rectangle under different angles, as if revolving on itself, moving through the surface of the actual wall.
Step by step, it turns in perspective and away until achieving a 360° revolution. One has the feeling that part of the
surface of the wall follows the movement of the carousel. The rotating image tells a never ending, looping story
about time and space.
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Lighthouse, details
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Wastebasket (bela)
Paper (origami), cardboard, glue, 38 x 27,5 x 27,5 cm, ongoing series, 2004-2006
Here, one can see a cardboard bucket filled with very precise origami geometric objects. A “monument to lost
potential”, it can be seen as a reflection on the difficulty of trusting oneʼs own ideas and going forward with them.
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Exploded View, installation view
Exploded View
Kodak carousel slide projector, 81 slides, stand, timer, 55 mm lens, ed. of 4 + AP2005
Alexander Gutkeʼs work Exploded View presents an inner journey through a Kodak Carousel slide projector.
Traveling millimeter by millimeter, the images show a cyclical movement in the interior of the projector through
lenses, wires and other technical parts.
The technical self-exploration of the piece can almost work on a bodily and spiritual level, where the formal
transformation of techniques and material also give room for a poetical reading.
Gutkeʼs own references to inner journeys are made via literature, film, and a spiritual search, referring for example
to Jorge Luis Borgesʼ novels, where time and space meet and cross each other in labyrinthine narrative forms.
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Exploded View, selected slides
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How to Fold the Best Paper Air Plane in the World
Two DVDs, duration 2' looped, ed. of 3 + AP, 2004 – 2005
The work consists of two separate DVD projections, each showing a different sequence of still images. Both of the
sequences begin with an image of a white sheet of A4 paper projected in its original size directly onto the surface of
the wall. The sequential images in the slide show describe, in steps, how to fold two different types of paper
airplanes.
In the first projection, a papperssvala, the Swedish name for one of the most common paper airplanes in the world;
in the other projection, another type of plane being folded. The two projections are presented in different part of the
gallery/venue, sharing the same title, appearing as two projected white monochromes being folded into a new
medium.
Here, we explore the universality of certain concepts / ideas / practices, still taking a different shape with each
subjective interpretation of them.
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How to Fold the Best Paper Air Plane in the World, details
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Solo
16 mm animation, 16:9 format, seamless loop 1' 10'', ed. of 4 + AP, 2004
The 16mm film loop Solo shows a drumstick tumbling as if it had been thrown up in the air during a drum solo. The
drumstick is spinning in the air above the stage in an empty club space, stuck in a time dimension of its own.
It moves against a backdrop of stage props with the camera eye circling around it, panning the room in a 360
degree slow motion shoot – a camera movement which we find also in 3-D generated animations for computer
games, music videos or martial arts and science fiction movies such as Matrix. In this case, though, we are facing
an old fashioned hand made animation. The film is shot frame by frame in a carousel-like model built in a studio.
The seamless loop creates a third circular movement in addition to the ones described by the spinning drumstick
and the movement of the camera.
Here, we observe the specific relation and psychological space created between the individual spectator and the
performance on stage: to be part of a collective experience, and yet having a feeling of alienation and detachment,
an elevated state of mind – almost being able to watch the experience from the outside.
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The White Light of the Void
16 mm animation, 4:3 format, seamless loop, duration 1', loop system, ed. of 4 + AP, 2002
In the AE-animation/16 mm film installation The White Light of the Void, the artist used the effect plug-ins available
in editing software (After Effects) to simulate the moment when the film gets jammed in the projector gate and
rapidly melts in the heat of the projector lamp, leaving the screen basking in light.
The sequence consists exclusively of effect plug-ins, without any additional photographic material. It was then
installed as a loop. The narrative is stripped down to the bare essentials of film – i.e. light and the wear and tear
which the film material is exposed to.
As the film loop runs through the projector, the simulated dust and scratches of the animation gradually gets mixed
with the authentic wear and damage of the projected copy. The alchemical process of transformation between
materials is shown under its most poetic aspect.
The title “The White Light of the Void” is a quote from Timothy Leary, the 1960´s drug guru who also coined the
term “Turn on, Tune in, Drop out”. He uses the term to describe a state of mind reached through the use of
hallucinogenic drugs. He in his turn probably borrowed the term from Asian mysticism, such as Tibetan Buddism,
where it has been used to describe a meditative state of mind. It is also widely used to describe the kind of visions
one experiences during “Near Death” or “Out of Body” experiences.
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Untitled (Void)
Graphite on wall, site-specific, three certificates, 2001
In Untitled (Void), Gutke used simple graphical means to describe a void into the gallery wall, a temporal
disturbance in our perception of its physical appearance. The “grid” is often used to describe a 3D-effect in
computer applications used for games, music videos or movies special effects.
Here, the grid is applied by hand as a graphite drawing directly onto the wall, allowing the viewer to read the illusion
of the displacement and the tangible physicality of the wall simultaneously. The grid covers a whole wall, each
square measuring 8,5 x 8,5 cm.
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Detail of the installation views from “Dys-function”, Lunds Konsthall, Lunds, Sweden, 2004
Horisont / Horizon
Rubber stamp, ink, variable dimension, five certificates, 2001
Horisont/Horizon consists of a sequence of figures (staring with 1, then 0) placed in a horizontal line on a wall. The
length of the wall determines the resulting number, which represents an immensely large duration. The text is
placed at the eye level, using a rubber stamp. From the distance, it appears to be a line running across the room,
and only at a closer look can it be read as actual figures.
The work can be placed on several walls at the same time, but should always start by a corner, a doorpost or some
other suitable starting point, and stop approximately 30-50 cm before the end of the wall, with the word dagar
(“days” in Swedish).
The artist questions here horizons as borders for our experience of time as well as for space.
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Caracas 1966-2000
DVD loop, projector, tripod, postcard, unique + exhibition copy, 2000
A small video projector placed on a tripod is projecting the image of a moving sky onto a postcard of the city centre
of Caracas, Venezuela. The film is only projected in the parts of the postcard that depicts the sky, leaving the rest of
the postcard unchanged.
The buildings lining each side of the main street look almost identical and seem to be mirroring each other to lead
to the colorful twin skyscrapers in the middle of the postcard. In the background the green hillsides are leading up
to the sky.
The city almost appears as a stage-set, which is also reinforced by the Technicolor-like colors of the postcard,
recalling 50´s-60´s Hollywood movies.
It explores the idea that a picture youʼve taken, found or someone has sent to you can continue to represent a
reality long after the picture has been taken and has lost its topicality.
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Installation view from Viva Scanland, Catalyst Arts, Tatu Bar & Grill, Belfast,
Northern Ireland
Whirlpool
Glass of water, electric motor, propeller, 1998
A glass of water is placed on top of a bar counter. Inside the glass is a maelstrom whirling violently, yet the water
stays inside the glass and never spills over. The maelstrom is created by an electric motor attached underneath the
bar. The motor is clearly visible.
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Whirlpool
C-print, 28,5 x 42 cm, framed, ed. of 6 + 2 AP, 2000
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Shattered
AE animation, projection onto glass, ed. of 4 + AP, 2001
A simple graphic computer animated sequence describes how a sheet of glass is broken and the splinters
slowly fall to the fl oor. The animation is projected onto a real sheet of glass and repeated over and over.
In my works illusion is often at present, though it is not the illusion as such that I fi nd interesting, but our
understanding of the surroundings; what we accept as real and natural. I prefer the slight shift and dis-
placement that takes place in the viewers mind when reading an image, rather than the seductive illusion´s
more immideate effect.The animation is created, without any photographic source material, using the
available effect fi lters in After Effects, a software used to create effects in fi lm and video.
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Notebook in vitrine
Detail
Notes (Twirl)
Notebook, print, 19 x 13 cm (or 19 x 26,5 cm when spread open), ed of 3 + AP, 2010
The piece is a simple notebook, approximately A5 size, with squared (grid-pattern) pages. Displayed with its pages
spread open, it reveals a abnormal pattern.
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ALEXANDER GUTKE
Born 1971 in Gothenburg, Sweden
Lives and works in Malmö, Sweden
Solo exhibitions
2010
Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm (duo show with Christian Andersson)
2009
Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit, USA. Curated by Chris Sharp
Lichthaus Arnsberg, Germany
Culturgest, Porto, Portugal. Curated by Chris Sharp
2008
Galerija Gregor Podnar, Berlin, Germany
2007
Hollybush Gardens, London, UK
Sies + Höke Galerie, Düsseldorf, Germany
Marabouparken Annex, Soundbyberg, Sweden
2005
Galerija Gregor Podnar, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Baltic Art Center, Visby, Sweden
Elastic Gallery, Malmö, Sweden
2002
MUU Galeria, Helsinki , Finland
UKS, Oslo, Norway
Luna International, Berlin, Germany
2001
MA-Exhibition, Peep, Rooseum, Malmö, Sweden. Catalogue
1999
Wednesday Project, Y-1, Stockholm, Sweden
Group exhibitions (selection)
2011
Kamloops Art Gallery, Canada
12th Istanbul Biennial, Untitled, cuarated by Adriano Pedrosa and Jens Hoffmann
Swiss Institute, New York, USA.
STUK kunstcentrum Leuven, Belgien
2010
Škuc Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Museum Tinguely, Basel. Exhibition will travel to Swiss Institute, New York (2011). Curated by Chris Sharp
Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Galleria Tiziana Di Caro, Salerno, Italy. Curated by Chris Sharp
Meet Factory, Prague. Curated by Chris Sharp
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2009
Centre Européen d´Actions Artistiques et Contemporaines (CEAAC), Strasbourg, France. Curated by Bettina Klein
La Maison Pop, Montreuil, France. Curated by Le Bureau
2008
La Salle de Bains, Lyon, France
Dunkers kulturhus, Helsingborg, Sweden. Curated by Chris Sharp
Netherlands. Curated by Krist Gruijthuijsen and Falke Pisano
Studio La Città, Verona, Italy
Vera Cortes, Lisbon, Portugal. Curated by Joana Neves
2007
Galerie Edouard Manet, Gennevilliers, France. Curated by Yoann Gourmel
Galerie Schleicher + Lange, Paris, France
Kunstverein, Düsseldorf, Germany. Curated by Vanessa Müller
2006
Noisy-le-Sec, France. Curated by Bettina Klein
Irma Vep Lab, Lieu de creation contemporaine, Châtillon sur Marne, France. Curated by Laurent Montaron &
Caroline Ferreira
Luis Seoane Foundation, Coruna Spain. Curated by Pablo Fanego
Pori Art Museum, Finland. Curated by Luigi Fassi
Mucsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, Hungary. Curated by Livia Paldi
H&R Block Art Space, Kansas City Art Institute, USA
2005
Galerija Gregor Podnar, Kranj/Ljubljana, Slovenia
Art Forum, Berlin, Germany
2004
Musée dʼArt Contemporain, Lyon, France
Galerie Eugen Lendl, Graz, Austria. Catalogue
Lunds Konsthall, Sweden. With Attila Csörgő, Ceal Floyer, Rivane Neuenschwander. Curated by Mats Stjernstedt
Galerie Martin Kudlek, Cologne, Germany. Catalogue
Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany. Curated by Nicholaus Schafhausen
Galerija Gregor Podnar, Kranj/Ljubljana, Slovenia
Sparwasser HQ, Berlin, Germany. Catalogue
Centre pour lʼImage Contemporaine, Genève, Switzerland. Catalogue
2003
Suite 106 Gallery, New York, USA
National Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia. Catalogue
Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig, Germany. Catalogue. Curated by Barbara Steiner
Malmö Konstmuseum, Malmö, Sweden. Catalogue
Galerija Skuc, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2002
Laafeld, Austria. Curated by Gregor Podnar & Livia Paldi
4th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Corea. Catalogue. Curated by Charles Esche & Hou Hanru
2001
Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool, UK
Rooseum Center for Contemporary Art, Malmö, Sweden. Curated by Charles Esche
Hordaland Kunstsenter, Bergen, Norway
Video-screening selected by Maria Lind, Moderna Museet and Rebecca Gordon Nesbitt, NIFCA, various venues.
Catalogue
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2000
Edinburgh, UK. Catalogue
Catalyst Arts, Belfast, UK
1999
Galleri Box, Göteborg, Sweden
Kunstverein Hannover, Hannover, Germany
1998
Out of Sight Seminar, Malmö, Sweden
Forumgalleriet, Malmö, Sweden
1997
Non-Stop Videobar, Göteborg, Sweden
Under Ytan, Lysekil, Sweden
Education, prices, grants
MA of Fine Arts, Malmö Art Academy, Sweden 1996-2001
Hovedskous Skulptur, Gothenburg, Sweden 1995-1996
Signal Gallery (co-founder & boardmember), Malmö, Sweden 1998-2001
IASPIS Internationellt kulturutbyte (Support for international exhibition) 2003, 2004 and 2009
International Residence at Centre International des Récollets, Paris, France 2007
Konstnärsnämnden, Sweden 2007 (two-years working grant)
Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center Istanbul Residency, Turkey 2005
Production in Residence, Baltic Art Centre, Visby, Sweden 2005
Konstnärsnämnden Kostnadskrävande project, Sweden (production grant) 2004
Konstnärsnämnden, Sweden 2003 (one-year working grant)
Malmö Art Museum, Aase & Richard Björklunds Prize, Sweden 2003
NIFCA, Suomenlinna Residency, Helsinki, Finland 2002
Hähnels Donationsfond, Sweden 2001
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