Untitled (Offspace)
Intervention/ Audio Installation , since 2008
Untitled (Offspace) is a site-specific intervention at Kunstraum Ortloff in Leipzig – an artist-run offspace founded by students of the Academy of Fine Arts (HGB Leipzig). For my generation of artists, Ortloff held a particular significance and remains emblematic of the city’s vibrant, self-organized art scene. Known not only for its ever-changing exhibitions of HGB students but also for its legendary opening parties that often lasted until morning, the space brought together young artists, curators, musicians, and future gallerists.
Instead of presenting a conventional exhibition, I turned the opening night itself into the artwork. The gallery remained empty, the lights stayed off, and the operators of the space – who were also DJs – played a single dance track continuously throughout the night. The audience, the hosts, and the atmosphere became part of the piece. With a recorder, I captured the soundscape of the event – music, voices, fragments of conversation – and later pressed it onto vinyl, which I presented as an audio installation in different contexts, including my diploma exhibition. There, the recording was played in an in-between space beneath the staircase of the academy’s gallery – a storage room usually closed to the public. I transformed the space with red lighting reminiscent of a bar or club and installed a record player that continuously played the audio documentation throughout the exhibition, creating the impression of a hidden party taking place close to the exhibition space. The audio installation was also shown in subsequent exhibitions at Galerie Hempel in 2012 and Kunstverein Tiergarten Berlin in 2014 , where the sound was played respectively in a basement beneath the exhibition space and inside a ventilation shaft, reflecting the relationship between offspaces and institutional art venues.
Documentation: Ari Merten
Special Thanks: Kunstraum Ortloff
Year: 20008
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