Golem, 2017
Photo: Christoph Harringer
Collection
Glazed ceramics, plinth (enameled saucepan, concrete, plastic cushion)
22 x 25 x 20 cm (ceramic)
73 x 40 x 38 cm (plinth)
Gelatin’s is an art practice that has continually asked questions of the discipline. Their large abandonment of concept-led methods since the beginning of their career demonstrates a preference for strategies directed by play that centre on questions of human need and desire, as well as their belief in art as a demarcated realm in which the materialisation of human desire might be possible. Their notorious project, The B-Thing (2001) was a radical example of this position. Since, the group have continued to produce works that deliver criticality as an immanent feature rather than regulatory principle of artistic production, evolving a position towards art’s historical development and contemporary status via their active exploitation of both its possibilities and limits. In Golem, a work that represents one of over 40 sculptures exhibited collectively at Greene Naftali in 2017, Gelatin developed a process of making inspired by the narrative of the golem in Jewish folklore, that involved penetrating and shaping pieces of clay in order to give them form and life as sculpture. By presenting these ceramic works on variously constructed plinths, they collapsed the story and symbolism of the golem (understood as a being brought to life from unformed substance), with a formal language derived from histories of the readymade and Surrealist assemblage that radically undermined assumptions surrounding the associations between art and aesthetic value at the beginning of the twentieth century. More specifically, by drawing a parallel between the story of creation that marks the golem’s birth and certain forms of artistic production that imbue found objects with a value differentiated from their usual function, they comment on the enlivening of works of art upon which their status as such depends.
It is predominantly through their material selection that Gelatin serves this critical take: the fabrication of this work’s plinth from concrete, clay, wood, and an enamelled saucepan reflects their broader use of construction materials, furniture, and household objects across the breadth of the series. The frequent comparisons made between their sculptural works and the work of Rachel Harrison, Isa Genzken and Franz West are unsurprising given the conscious construction of what Hal Foster has termed ‘disagreeable objects’ that defines each of their practices.[1]The ceramic works which each of the plinths supports, so Gelatin claim, “come to life in the gallery,” having been awakened by the group’s engagement with their constitutive materials. The analogy between the tale of the golem and the alchemic nature of artistic production and value becomes clear. As David Muenzer has written: “The equation of sexual and creative energy, along with the claim that artistry endows form with life, is a foundational myth of modernism… [and] Gelatin’s objects perform a hyperbolic version of these values.”[2] –Elsa Gray
[1] Hal Foster, “Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so…?” in The New Décor (London: Hayward Publishing, 2010), 23.
[2] David Muenzer, “Gelatin: New York Golem,” in Artforum, available at https://www.artforum.com/picks/gelatin-69681
22 x 25 x 20 cm (ceramic)
73 x 40 x 38 cm (plinth)
Gelatin’s is an art practice that has continually asked questions of the discipline. Their large abandonment of concept-led methods since the beginning of their career demonstrates a preference for strategies directed by play that centre on questions of human need and desire, as well as their belief in art as a demarcated realm in which the materialisation of human desire might be possible. Their notorious project, The B-Thing (2001) was a radical example of this position. Since, the group have continued to produce works that deliver criticality as an immanent feature rather than regulatory principle of artistic production, evolving a position towards art’s historical development and contemporary status via their active exploitation of both its possibilities and limits. In Golem, a work that represents one of over 40 sculptures exhibited collectively at Greene Naftali in 2017, Gelatin developed a process of making inspired by the narrative of the golem in Jewish folklore, that involved penetrating and shaping pieces of clay in order to give them form and life as sculpture. By presenting these ceramic works on variously constructed plinths, they collapsed the story and symbolism of the golem (understood as a being brought to life from unformed substance), with a formal language derived from histories of the readymade and Surrealist assemblage that radically undermined assumptions surrounding the associations between art and aesthetic value at the beginning of the twentieth century. More specifically, by drawing a parallel between the story of creation that marks the golem’s birth and certain forms of artistic production that imbue found objects with a value differentiated from their usual function, they comment on the enlivening of works of art upon which their status as such depends.
It is predominantly through their material selection that Gelatin serves this critical take: the fabrication of this work’s plinth from concrete, clay, wood, and an enamelled saucepan reflects their broader use of construction materials, furniture, and household objects across the breadth of the series. The frequent comparisons made between their sculptural works and the work of Rachel Harrison, Isa Genzken and Franz West are unsurprising given the conscious construction of what Hal Foster has termed ‘disagreeable objects’ that defines each of their practices.[1]The ceramic works which each of the plinths supports, so Gelatin claim, “come to life in the gallery,” having been awakened by the group’s engagement with their constitutive materials. The analogy between the tale of the golem and the alchemic nature of artistic production and value becomes clear. As David Muenzer has written: “The equation of sexual and creative energy, along with the claim that artistry endows form with life, is a foundational myth of modernism… [and] Gelatin’s objects perform a hyperbolic version of these values.”[2] –Elsa Gray
[1] Hal Foster, “Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so…?” in The New Décor (London: Hayward Publishing, 2010), 23.
[2] David Muenzer, “Gelatin: New York Golem,” in Artforum, available at https://www.artforum.com/picks/gelatin-69681
gelitin is a group of four artists from Vienna, Austria. The group was formerly known as gelatin and changed their name in 2005. They are known for creating sensational art events in the tradition of Relational Aesthetics, often with a lively sense of humor.
Among their projects are a gigantic plush toy: a 55 meter tall pink rabbit on Colletto Fava (near Genoa, Italy), intended to remain there until 2025.[1][2] In November 2005, the group had a show at Leo Koenig, Inc. in New York, a project called Tantamounter 24/7. The project was a "gigantic, complex and very clever machine", according to the artists, which functioned as a kind of art-Xerox. The group erected a barrier blocking off one half of the space, locking themselves inside for one week, then asking visitors to insert items that they wanted copied into an opening in the barrier, which copies were then returned through another opening.[3]
This biography is from Wikipedia under an Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License.
Among their projects are a gigantic plush toy: a 55 meter tall pink rabbit on Colletto Fava (near Genoa, Italy), intended to remain there until 2025.[1][2] In November 2005, the group had a show at Leo Koenig, Inc. in New York, a project called Tantamounter 24/7. The project was a "gigantic, complex and very clever machine", according to the artists, which functioned as a kind of art-Xerox. The group erected a barrier blocking off one half of the space, locking themselves inside for one week, then asking visitors to insert items that they wanted copied into an opening in the barrier, which copies were then returned through another opening.[3]
This biography is from Wikipedia under an Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License.