Christoph Schlingensief
Querverstümmelung

The practice of Christoph Schlingensief (born 1960, Oberhausen) represents a foray through diverse types of artistic engagement – from film-making to activism, from acting to directing, from painting to journalism. The multiplicity of materials that this implies has not only blurred the boundaries between traditional artistic categories but has also entailed a deconstruction and reconstruction of visual worlds; absorbing everything into itself, denying linearity and classical narration, the work makes excessive demands on the viewer’s sensory abilities. In the effort to summarise Schlingensief’s activities, one feels tempted to apply the term ‘universal’. Output from the past two years of this complex practice has been brought together for the artist’s first solo exhibition in a Swiss institution: from a (re-)deconstruction of “Kaprow City” (2006) – initially presented on a revolving stage at the Volksbühne in Berlin – and the 16mm film installation “18 Bilder pro Sekunde” (2007) to a first presentation of the film version of “The African Twintowers” (2005-07).

Curated by Raphael Gygax