The artist collective is an idea that’s been reinvented many times, and now perhaps the artists Adele Röder and Kerstin Brätsch have done so again. Their brainchild is ‘DAS INSTITUT’, a collective that, unlike more utopian versions, does not really promote the group above the individual or relish anonymity. Rather, it blurs together works by different artists in the context of an exhibition.
DAS INSTITUT’s latest self-titled show, at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, is based around the layering of Röder and Brätsch’s distinctive practices, especially Brätsch’s Mylar paintings and stained-glass works, and Röder’s neon sculptures. They’ve also incorporated various other artists, including a sound piece by Sergei Tcherepnin and a film by respected artist and historian Alexander Kluge.
What binds it all together, essentially, is aesthetics. The exhibition is a sensory overload, winding its way around the gallery with garish lights and unnerving shapes appearing in a range of media. In partitioned-off corners you encounter Brätsch’s psychedelic marbled paintings, and some unusual slide shows. Especially grotesque is the Am Sonntag series, featuring doctored images of Röder and Brätsch themselves with thin necks and witch-like noses.
The works are big and brash, and materials are fetishised throughout, with plenty of slick surfaces and wooden crates being used as improvised pedestals. Here DAS INSTITUT seem to recall an older sort of collective, one based on a sharing of different crafts. Generally, though, this project could only be called collective in a superficial sense. With its sinister atmosphere, it seems more like a parody of harmonious collaboration.
The collective is one that that, unlike more utopian versions, does not really promote the group above the individual or relish anonymity. Pictured: COMCORRÖDER Breast, by Adele Röder, 2010/2015
Rather, it blurs together works by different artists in the context of an exhibition. Pictured: Solar Body Prints, by Adele Röder, 2013–14
In partitioned-off corners you encounter Brätsch’s psychedelic marbled paintings, and some unusual slide shows
A commitment to sensory overload binds the exhibition, winding its way around the gallery with garish lights and unnerving shapes appearing in a range of media. Pictured: Am Sonntag, from the series When You See Me Again It Won’t Be Me series, by DAS INSTITUT with Kathrin Sonntag, 2016
Information
'DAS INSTITUT' is on view until 15 May. For more information, visit the Serpentine Sackler Gallery's website
Address
Serpentine Sackler Gallery
West Carriage Drive
London, W2 2AR
-
Paul Rudolph's home served as a gigantic 'loom' for an exhibition of Anni Albers textilesItalian textile brand Dedar presented its Weaving Anni Albers collection at the legendary architect’s experimental Modulightor building in New York last week
-
From Bauhaus to outhouse: Walter Gropius’ Massachusetts home seeks a design for a new public toiletFor years, visitors to the Gropius House had to contend with an outdoor porta loo. A new architecture competition is betting the design community is flush with solutions
-
This Portuguese winery looks like it grew from the landscape itselfArchitect Sérgio Rebelo distils the essence of Portugal’s Douro Valley into a new timber-framed winery for Quinta de Adorigo
-
A former leprosarium with a traumatic past makes a haunting backdrop for Jaime Welsh's photographsIn 'Convalescent,' an exhibition at Ginny on Frederick in London, Jaime Welsh is drawn to the shores of Lake Geneva and the troubled history of Villa Karma
-
Maggi Hambling at 80: what next?To mark a significant year, artist Maggi Hambling is unveiling both a joint London exhibition with friend Sarah Lucas and a new Rizzoli monograph. We visit her in the studio
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThis week, the Wallpaper* editors curated a diverse mix of experiences, from meeting diamond entrepreneurs and exploring perfume exhibitions to indulging in the the spectacle of a Middle Eastern Christmas
-
Artist Shaqúelle Whyte is a master of storytelling at Pippy Houldsworth GalleryIn his London exhibition ‘Winter Remembers April’, rising artist Whyte offers a glimpse into his interior world
-
Diane Arbus at David Zwirner is an intimate and poignant tribute to her portraitureIn 'Diane Arbus: Sanctum Sanctorum,' 45 works place Arbus' subjects in their private spaces. Hannah Silver visits the London exhibit.
-
Zofia Rydet's 20-year task of photographing every household in Poland goes on show in LondonZofia Rydet took 20,000 images over 20 years for the mammoth sociological project
-
Joy Gregory subverts beauty standards with her new exhibition at Whitechapel GalleryUnrealistic beauty standards hide ugly realities in 'Joy Gregory: Catching Flies with Honey '
-
Bengi Ünsal steers London's ICA into an excitingly eclectic directionAs director of London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts, Bengi Ünsal is leading the cultural space into a more ambitious, eclectic and interdisciplinary space
