OLE GRÖNWOLDT

Artgenda 2002

T-HÜTTEN KOLONIE GLÜCKLICHE ERDE

(...) HAVING ALREADY BEEN TESTED AS A SITE FOR THE BLOCKBAU PROJECT, THE DISUSED LAND BELONGING TO THE DEUTSCHE BUNDESBAHN WAS AGAIN CHOSEN BY MÓKA FARKAS AND BERNDT JASPER IN COLLABORATION WITH OLE GRÖNWOLDT TO ERECT A TEMPORARY “BIENNIAL VILLAGE” FOR ARTGENDA THAT WAS NAMED KOLONIE GLÜCKLICHE ERDE (HAPPY EARTH SETTLEMENT). EACH OF THE TEN ART PROJECTS INVITED FROM THE BALTIC COUNTRIES WAS GIVEN A SO-CALLED “T-HUT” AS A PRESENTATION SPACE. THE T-HUTS WERE OPEN-AIR CONCRETE OR PLYWOOD CONSTRUCTIONS WITHOUT A ROOF. MEASURING 3 X 3 METRES, THE FLOOR SPACE WAS SEALED OFF BY A REAR WALL 2.5 METRES HIGH AND DIVIDED INTO TWO DIFFERENTLY SIZED ROOMS BY A 2.5-METRE-HIGH VERTICAL “T-WALL”. IN SPITE OF THE EDIFICE’S OPEN CONSTRUCTION, THIS SET-UP OF TWO ZONES TO PRODUCE A MAIN ROOM AND AN ADJOINING ROOM CREATED A SENSE OF INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR SPACE. AT THE SAME TIME, THE T-HUT ALSO SERVED AS A FRAMED STAGE, OPEN TO BEING USED AS A PLATFORM FOR A VARIETY OF ACTIONS, PERFORMANCES, ETC. FOR THE ORGANIZERS, THE IDEA BEHIND THIS WAS TO SEEK A “REDUCTION TO AN INTEGRATED EXHIBITION SPACE, TO THE SMALLEST COMMON DENOMINATOR ONE COULD FIND” (GRÖNWOLDT, IN AN INTERVIEW WITH P. CARSTENS, IN: DIE ZEIT, ZEIT-KULTURBRIEF, 31. MAI BIS 9. JUNI 2002.) BUT EVERY ARTIST WAS ALSO GRANTED THE OPTION TO DESTROY, DISMANTLE OR EXTEND THE GIVEN ROOM MODULE AS HE/SHE SO WISHED. THE APPROACHES ADOPTED BY THE INVITED ARTISTS WERE CORRESPONDINGLY VARIED: THE OUTCOME WAS THEATRICALLY STAGED DWELLINGS, RESEARCH LABS AND REHEARSAL ROOMS WITH PARTITIONS AND CANOPIES POSING AS STUDIOS OR EXHIBITION SPACES; THE SCULPTURAL STRUCTURE OF THE T-HUT WAS ALSO TREATED AS AN AUTONOMOUS OUTDOOR SCULPTURE (“UR-HÜTTE” OR PRIMORDIAL HUT) OR SIMPLY MAINTAINED IN ITS “RAW” STATE AS A SURFACE FOR GRAFFITI. (...) [IN: „BALTIC RAW“, JASPER/FARKAS, TEXT BY MATHIAS GÜNTNER]

Bernd Jasper, Moka Farkas, Ole Grönwoldt