For Whom, 2012
found piece of wood
courtesy Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf 

 

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Pietà, 2006
found piece of wood and rock crystal, 11 x 16 x 12 cm
photograph ACHIM KUKULIES
courtesy Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf

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Elk antlers
dimension variable
photograph: ACHIM KUKULIES, Düsseldorf
courtesy Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf

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T.Y.F.F.S.H., 2009
hot air balloon, ventilators, Dimension variable
collection Mimi and Filiep Libeert, Courtesy Johann König, Berlin, Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf, Marc Foxx, Los Angeles
exhibition view Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau, Photo: DOMINIC BÜTTNER, Zurich

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For Whom, 2012
bronze bell without pendulum, steel construction, linear motor
500 x 320 x 400 cm, courtesy Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf
exhibition view Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau, Photo: DOMINIC BÜTTNER, Zurich

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Summit, 2009
mixed media, dimension variable
courtesy Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf

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I Am not an Idiot, 2010
found pebbles, dimensions variable
private Collection, Cologne
photo: ACHIM KUKULIES, Düsseldorf
courtesy Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf

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Still Alive, 2011
ink on paper, 42 x 29 cm
Burger collection
courtesy Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf

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Noah, 2011
bronze bird, silver jar, 3 x 15,5 x 8 cm
Isa, 2011
mixed media, 87 x 87 cm
courtesy Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf

 

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Bee, 2009
gold, 1 x 1 x 1.5 cm
Boros Collection, Berlin
Photo: ACHIM KUKULIES, Düsseldorf
courtesy Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf

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This summer, the Belgian artist KRIS MARTIN is having his first ‘retrospective’ at the Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau (Switzerland) which presents his pivotal works of recent years.

From installation and sculpture to photography, video and drawing, most of his practice circles around the subjects of life and death, and the ephemerality and fragility of our existence. In terms of form, he frequently uses – aside from objects that he has elaborately produces by others – found objects that already have a history inscribed into them. His central artistic strategy consists in lifting those found objects from their original context, removing essential information from them, overlaying them and shifting their scale in such a way that the seemingly familiar becomes enigmatic.

For his aargauer exhibition, he has installed a hot air balloon (T.Y.F.F.Y.S.H., 2007) in the museum, as if ready for launching, the balloon and basket are lying on the floor. Two ventilators blow up the balloon until the subtly flittering fabric touches the walls. A surreal effect takes place as the visitors walk into the room through the balloon’s opening, as if entering a whale’s stomach. Further MARTIN has positioned eight large, human-height boulders (Summit, 2009) and marked their apexes with tiny paper crosses. This shift of scale and perspective turn these rocks into mountains, their cracks into crevasses, and their highest points into symbols of arduous accomplishment.

Also included in the exhibition is an enigmatic 115-cm-diameter metal sphere (1000 years, 2009) that will destroy itself in 1000 years, tiny bronze discs (Festum II, 2010) covering the entire floor of a room and a bee (Bee, 2009) cast life-sized in gold, among others.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is the mighty church bell (For Whom, 2010) in the courtyard that is set into swinging motion at regular intervals. Because its clapper is missing, no sound is generated as it silently swings back and forth. The nearly 100-year-old bronze bell, originally built in 1929, hangs from the top of a 5.5 meters tall steel support draws our attention to the impact that unexpected silence can generate.

➝ Every Day of the Weak is currently on view at the Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau (Switzerland) until August 12, 2012.