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Yours, KOW

Michael E. Smith II

, Michael E. Smith

Apr 27 – Jul 13, 2013

DeutschEnglish

Can a thing be more human than a human being? Michael E. Smith has effaced humans from his art and replaced them with a physiology and psychology of things. He prepares discarded pieces of apparel like socks, T-shirts, and hats, domestic objects like bottles and bowls, parts of technical appliances or animal cadavers, and arranges them as though to lay out a forensics of maltreated lives that persist in their material fragments.

Kann ein Ding humaner sein als ein Mensch? Michael E. Smith hat den Menschen aus seinem Werk gestrichen und durch eine Physiologie und Psychologie der Dinge ersetzt. Abgelegte Kleidungsstücke wie Socken, T-Shirts und Mützen, Haushaltsgegenstände wie Flaschen und Schüsseln, Teile von technischem Gerät oder Tierkadavern werden präpariert und angeordnet wie zu einer Forensik misshandelter Leben, die sich in ihren materiellen Bruchstücken fortsetzen.

Smith’s sculptures and pictures draw on a frugal repertoire of materials that used to satisfy basic physical needs for food, warmth, or integrity or served in technical routines of everyday life. He takes them out of use and sets them down in the empty space of his exhibitions, where they seek cover in the room or among each other. Dismissed from the social world of which they were once a part, they envelop or support one another or persist in isolation.

They often present the anatomical proportions of torsi or body limbs, or resemble a head in size. PVC foam fills their insides, resins impose rigid shapes on them, their surfaces are gummed up and scratched. They bear the traces of former uses like scabs. Smith’s objects look like physical reconstructions of emotional vulnerability and violation; his exhibitions, like an archaeology of humanity.

Smiths Skulpturen und Bilder entstehen aus einem sparsamen Fundus von Materialien, die zuvor körperliche Grundbedürfnisse nach Nahrung, Wärme und Unversehrtheit sicherten oder technischen Alltagsroutinen dienten. Er nimmt sie aus dem Gebrauch und legt sie in die Leere seiner Ausstellungen, wo sie Deckung im Raum oder bei sich selbst suchen. Aus der sozialen Welt entlassen, deren Teil sie einmal waren, umhüllen und stützen sie sich gegenseitig oder bleiben isoliert.

Oft haben sie anatomische Proportionen von Torsi und Gliedmaßen oder die Größe eines Kopfes. PVC-Schaum stopft sie aus, Harze zwingen sie in rigide Formen, ihre Oberflächen sind verklebt und zerkratzt. Sie tragen Spuren ehemaliger Verwendung wie eine Kruste. Smiths Objekte erscheinen wie physische Rekonstruktionen emotionaler Angreifbarkeit und Versehrtheit, seine Ausstellungen wie eine Archäologie der Humanität.

Michael E. Smith, Michael E. Smith II, 2013, mixed media installation, installation view KOW
DeutschEnglish

Smith’s oeuvre counters the ecological and economic disaster of our era with a materialism of basic needs

Smiths Werk hält dem ökologischen und ökonomischen Desaster der Epoche einen Materialismus der Grundbedürfnisse entgegen

For the things in and with which we live are more than mere accessories of the self. Especially when they safeguard our survival, they are our existence. At a time when Western societies overstep the limits of their growth and should urgently switch from expansion to self-preservation, Smith’s oeuvre counters the ecological and economic disaster of our era with a materialism of basic needs.

And yet his art pointedly refuses to align itself with ascetic ideals proclaiming that “less is more.” Modest lifestyles have long started to spread against the will of those who adopt them, and upward economic redistribution is teaching the middle classes the fear of social decline. For many people, “less” means a bare-bones life, and Smith’s objects trace that threshold of pain in lieu of a body politic that has become deaf to its own needs.

Text and photos: Alexander Koch

Denn die Dinge, in und mit denen wir leben, sind mehr als nur Beiwerk des Selbst. Zumal da, wo sie das Überleben sichern, sind sie unsere Existenz. Zu einem Zeitpunkt, da westliche Gesellschaften die Grenzen ihres Wachstums überschreiten und sich von Expansion auf Selbsterhalt umstellen müssten, hält Smiths Werk dem ökologischen und ökonomischen Desaster der Epoche einen Materialismus der Grundbedürfnisse entgegen.

An asketische Ideale des „Weniger ist Mehr“ lässt es sich aber gerade nicht anschließen. Denn längst verbreiten sich bescheidene Lebensweisen wider Willen, und die wirtschaftliche Umverteilung von unten nach oben trägt die Angst vor dem sozialen Abstieg in die Mittelklassen. Für Viele bedeutet „Weniger“ das Leben an einer Schmerzgrenze, die Smiths Objekte anstelle eines Gemeinwesens nachempfinden, das für seine Bedürfnisse taub geworden ist.



Text und Fotos: Alexander Koch

Michael E. Smith, Michael E. Smith II, 2013, mixed media installation, installation view KOW
Michael E. Smith, Fat Albert, 2013, Mixing bowl, T-shirt, h = 29.5 cm, Ø 77 cm
Michael E. Smith, Meat Wad, 2013, Printed vinyl, 27 × 18 × 13 cm
Michael E. Smith, Fat Albert, 2013, Mixing bowl, T-shirt, h = 29.5 cm, Ø 77 cm
Michael E. Smith, Untitled, 2013, Animal feed scoop, pillow case, plastic, magnets, 12 × 77 × 18 cm
Michael E. Smith, Untitled, 2013, Sweatshirt, wasp nest, plastic, 34 × 23 × 29 cm
Michael E. Smith, Michael E. Smith II, 2013, mixed media installation, installation view KOW
Michael E. Smith, Meat Wad, 2013, Printed vinyl, 27 × 18 × 13 cm
Michael E. Smith, Michael E. Smith II, 2013, mixed media installation, installation view KOW
Michael E. Smith, Untitled, 2013, Drum frame, saw, plastic, pillow case, 60 × 53 × 5 cm
Michael E. Smith, Untitled, 2013, Stretched pillow case, 51 × 41 × 2 cm
Michael E. Smith, Tucan Sam, 2013, Feathers, plastic, ball, 47 × 23 × 25 cm
Michael E. Smith, Tucan Sam, 2013, Feathers, plastic, ball, 47 × 23 × 25 cm
Michael E. Smith, Tucan Sam, 2013, Feathers, plastic, ball, 47 × 23 × 25 cm
Michael E. Smith, Untitled, 2013, Wasp nest, plastic, chair, 78 × 56 × 52.5 cm
Michael E. Smith, Untitled, 2013, Wasp nest, plastic, chair, 78 × 56 × 52.5 cm
Michael E. Smith, Untitled, 2013, Wasp nest, plastic, chair, 78 × 56 × 52.5 cm, detail
Michael E. Smith, Untitled, 2013, T-shirt, feathers, plastic, 51 × 41 × 2

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Current

Upcoming

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2023

Teatro Popular

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Casa Negra

, Marco A. Castillo
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Barbara Hammer & Hudinilson Jr

, Estate of Barbara Hammer, Hudinilson Jr
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, Tobias Zielony
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Das Auto Rosi aber

, Anna Boghiguian, Candice Breitz, Marco A. Castillo, Alice Creischer, Chto Delat, Heinrich Dunst, Anna Ehrenstein, Peter Friedl, Sophie Gogl, Clegg & Guttmann, Estate of Barbara Hammer, Hiwa K, Simon Lehner, Renzo Martens, Oswald Oberhuber, Mario Pfeifer, Santiago Sierra, Michael E. Smith, Franz Erhard Walther
Nov 26, 2022 – Jan 14, 2023

2022

Proof of the Unthinkable

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Sep 16 – Nov 12, 2022

JOINT VENTURES: Carlos∕Ishikawa, London

Richard Sides – Basic Vision
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KOW at Sperling, Munich: Various Others 2022

, Anna Ehrenstein, Andrew Gilbert
Sep 10 – Oct 15, 2022

Latest News

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Canary Archive

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Jul 15 – Aug 20, 2022

KOW at LA MAISON DE RENDEZ–VOUS, Brussels: Kleine Beestjes

, Sophie Gogl
Jul 6 – Aug 31, 2022

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Apr 29 – Jun 25, 2022

BALOT

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The Albanian Conference: Home Is Where The Hatred Is

, Anna Ehrenstein, feat. DNA, Fadescha, Rebecca-Pokua Korang
Nov 12, 2021 – Jan 29, 2022

Idea / Ideal

, Marco A. Castillo
Nov 12, 2021 – Jan 29, 2022

2021

Michael E. Smith

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Sep 10 – Oct 31, 2021

The Bell Project

, Hiwa K
Jun 18 – Jul 24, 2021

Joint Ventures: Felix Gaudlitz, Vienna

Milena Büsch, Simon Lässig, Vera Lutz
Jun 18 – Jul 24, 2021

Jars

, Sophie Gogl
May 1 – Jul 24, 2021

What must not be, cannot be

, Mario Pfeifer
May 1 – Jun 12, 2021

Joint Ventures: Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Wien

Sonia Leimer – Junks of Joy
May 1 – Jun 12, 2021

Downstairs: Forced Love

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Mar 26 – Apr 18, 2021

Permanente Veränderung

, Oswald Oberhuber
Mar 8 – Apr 18, 2021

JOINT ventures: Modern Art, London

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Mar 8 – Apr 18, 2021

Online exhibition: works on paper

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Feb 1 – Mar 26, 2021

KOLONNEN - hohenzollern ist jetzt ein Verb

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Nov 20, 2020 – Jan 30, 2021

Downstairs: Airmail Paintings 186 and 192

, Eugenio Dittborn
Nov 20, 2020 – Jan 30, 2021

Online exhibition: The films

, Eugenio Dittborn
Dec 4, 2020 – Jan 31, 2021

2020

Online exhibition: One night in a social network

, Chto Delat
Oct 4 – Dec 4, 2020

Would You Like to Meet Your Neighbor?

, Estate of Barbara Hammer
Sep 11 – Nov 7, 2020

Downstairs: Two recent films

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Sep 11 – Nov 7, 2020

OUT OF THE DARK II

, Candice Breitz, Chto Delat, Clegg & Guttmann, Alice Creischer, Heinrich Dunst, Estate of Barbara Hammer, The Cabinet of Ramon Haze, Hiwa K, Frédéric Moser & Philippe Schwinger, Oswald Oberhuber, Mario Pfeifer, Dierk Schmidt, Santiago Sierra, Michael E. Smith, Franz Erhard Walther, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Tobias Zielony, CATPC, Anna Ehrenstein, Christoph Schäfer
May 23 – Aug 15, 2020

Online exhibition: The Illusion of a Crowd

, Clemens von Wedemeyer
Apr 7 – May 31, 2020

Labour

, Candice Breitz
Feb 29 – Apr 30, 2020

Machines to change the world

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Feb 15 – Mar 14, 2020

Downstairs: Maschinen zur Veränderung der Welt

, The Cabinet of Ramon Haze
Feb 15 – Mar 14, 2020

TOASTED ANGELS, SOUNDS OF STEEL

, Estate of León Ferrari
Nov 23, 2019 – Feb 1, 2020

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Sep 13, 2019 – Jan 25, 2020

2019

Stadtschlawinereien

, Alice Creischer, Dierk Schmidt, Michael E. Smith, Brandlhuber+, Larissa Fassler, Adelita Husni-Bey, Peng!, Andrea Pichl, Andreas Siekmann, Bárbara Wagner & Benjamin de Burca, Weekend & Plaste, et al.
Sep 7 – Nov 9, 2019

Oberhuber. Un futuro.

, Oswald Oberhuber
May 31 – Jul 27, 2019

Clegg & Guttmann and Franz Erhard Walther

, Clegg & Guttmann, Franz Erhard Walther
Apr 26 – Jul 27, 2019

Make up

, Tobias Zielony
Mar 2 – May 18, 2019

Ostalgie

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Feb 2 – Apr 28, 2019

His Master's Voice

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Nov 24, 2018 – Jan 19, 2019

Crusoe

, Eugenio Dittborn
Nov 24, 2018 – Jan 19, 2019

Contribution to Light. The Early Works of Barbara Hammer

, Estate of Barbara Hammer
Sep 13, 2018 – Jan 31, 2019

2018

Was euch am Leben hält, ist, was bei uns zu Asche zerfällt *

, Alice Creischer, Mario Pfeifer, Michael E. Smith, Tobias Zielony, Henrike Naumann
Sep 8 – Nov 10, 2018

EL OTRO, EL MISMO / THE OTHER, THE SAME

Los Carpinteros
Apr 28 – Jul 21, 2018

Maskirovka

, Tobias Zielony
Mar 24 – Apr 15, 2018

Double Bodies

, Frédéric Moser & Philippe Schwinger
Feb 10 – Mar 17, 2018

Hotel Résistance

Ahmet Öğüt
Nov 25, 2017 – Jan 28, 2018

2017

Michael E. Smith

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Sep 16 – Nov 5, 2017

Love Story

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Apr 29 – Jul 30, 2017

On the Possibility of Light

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Feb 18 – Apr 9, 2017

On Fear and Education, Disenchantment and Justice, Protest and Disunion in Saxony / Germany

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Dec 1, 2016 – Apr 15, 2017

The Cabinet of Ramon Haze

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Nov 19, 2016 – Jan 29, 2017

Things, Not Words

, Heinrich Dunst
Nov 19, 2016 – Jan 29, 2017

2016

Barbara Hammer & Oswald Oberhuber

, Estate of Barbara Hammer, Oswald Oberhuber
Sep 17 – Nov 6, 2016

Out Of The Dark

, Chto Delat, Alice Creischer, Eugenio Dittborn, Heinrich Dunst, Estate of Barbara Hammer, Hiwa K, Renzo Martens, Chris Martin, Frédéric Moser & Philippe Schwinger, Mario Pfeifer, Dierk Schmidt, Tina Schulz, Michael E. Smith, Franz Erhard Walther, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Tobias Zielony, The Cabinet of Ramon Haze
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The Citizen

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Apr 30 – Jun 12, 2016

This Lemon Tastes of Apple

, Hiwa K
Apr 30 – Jun 12, 2016

Broken Windows 6.3

, Dierk Schmidt
Mar 12 – Apr 16, 2016

Cast Behind You The Bones Of Your Mother

, Clemens von Wedemeyer
Dec 19, 2015 – Feb 27, 2016

2015

Left To Our Own Devices

Hito Steyerl
Sep 17 – Dec 5, 2015

A Summer Of Films

, Chto Delat, Alice Creischer, Eugenio Dittborn, Heinrich Dunst, Estate of Barbara Hammer, Renzo Martens, Frédéric Moser & Philippe Schwinger, Mario Pfeifer, Tina Schulz, Michael E. Smith, Franz Erhard Walther, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Tobias Zielony, Screening program
Jun 28 – Jul 26, 2015

Approximation In The Digital Age To A Humanity Condemned To Disappear

, Mario Pfeifer
May 2 – Jun 25, 2015

A Lucky Day

, Renzo Martens, CATPC
May 2 – Jul 26, 2015

Time Capsule. Artistic Report on Catastrophes and Utopia

, Chto Delat
Feb 28 – Apr 18, 2015

Have A Crush

, Estate of Barbara Hammer
Jan 10 – Feb 14, 2015

Dream Lovers. The Films 2008–2014

, Tobias Zielony
Dec 6, 2014 – Feb 14, 2015

2014

Dämmstoffe

, Heinrich Dunst
Nov 1 – Dec 18, 2014

Pinturas Aeropostales

, Eugenio Dittborn
Sep 13 – Nov 23, 2014

Cool Drink on a Hot Day

, Chris Martin
May 3 – Jul 27, 2014

In The Stomach Of The Predators

, Alice Creischer
Mar 1 – Apr 19, 2014

2013

Körperformen

, Franz Erhard Walther
Nov 30 – Feb 13, 2013

40 cbm Of Earth From The Iberian Peninsula

, Santiago Sierra
Sep 14 – Oct 30, 2013

Michael E. Smith II

, Michael E. Smith
Apr 27 – Jul 13, 2013

Dignity

, Estate of Barbara Hammer
Feb 16 – Apr 14, 2013

Believers

, Alice Creischer, Chto Delat, Estate of Barbara Hammer, Frédéric Moser & Philippe Schwinger, Michael E. Smith, Franz Erhard Walther, Tobias Zielony, Zanny Begg, Joseph Beuys, Arno Brandlhuber, Ines Doujak, Philippe Halsman, Adrian Piper, Pussy Riot, Christoph Schlingensief, Andreas Siekmann, Santiago Sierra, Andreas Slominski, Sean Snyder
Nov 10, 2012 – Feb 3, 2013

2012

Im Archipel

Arno Brandlhuber
Sep 8 – Oct 21, 2012

Das Etablissement der Tatsachen The Establishment of Matters of Fact

, Alice Creischer
Apr 27 – Jul 22, 2012

Manitoba

, Tobias Zielony
Feb 3 – Apr 15, 2012

Tina Schulz

, Tina Schulz
Nov 5, 2011 – Jan 28, 2012

2011

A Formal Film In Nine Episodes, Prologue & Epilogue

, Mario Pfeifer
Sep 10 – Oct 28, 2011

Social Violence

, Santiago Sierra, Cady Noland
Apr 30 – Jul 29, 2011

Barbara Hammer

, Estate of Barbara Hammer
Feb 12 – Mar 17, 2011

Franz Erhard Walther

, Franz Erhard Walther
Nov 6, 2010 – Feb 11, 2011

2010

Chris Martin

, Chris Martin
Sep 11 – Oct 24, 2010

Michael E. Smith

, Michael E. Smith
Jun 12 – Jul 25, 2010

Vele, Zgora

, Tobias Zielony
May 1 – Jun 5, 2010

The Fourth Wall

, Clemens von Wedemeyer
Jan 23 – Apr 22, 2010

Antirepresentationalism 3: Issues of Empathy Conceptual and Socially oriented Art in Leipzig 1997–2009

, The Cabinet of Ramon Haze, Mario Pfeifer, Tina Schulz, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Tobias Zielony, Peggy Buth, Jan Caspers/ Anne König/ Jan Wenzel, Chat, Markus Dressen, Famed, Till Gathmann, Lina Grumm, Andreas Grahl, Henriette Grahnert, Mark Hamilton, Bertram Haude, Ramon Haze, Oliver Kossack, Andrea Legiehn, Thomas Lüer, Claudia Annette Maier, Ulrich Polster, Julius Popp, schau-vogel-schau, Julia Schmidt, Tilo Schulz, spector cut+paste, Christoph Weber, Arthur Zalewski
Nov 28, 2009 – Jan 15, 2010

2009

Antirepresentationalism 2: Trouble with Realism. Conceptual and Socially oriented Art in Leipzig 1997–2009

, The Cabinet of Ramon Haze, Mario Pfeifer, Tina Schulz, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Tobias Zielony, Peggy Buth, Famed, Markus Dressen, Andreas Grahl, Henriette Grahnert, Eiko Grimmberg/ Arthur Zalewski, Mark Hamilton, Ramon Haze, Oliver Kossack, Claudia Annette Maier, Ulrich Polster, Julius Popp, schau-vogel-schau (Marcel Bühler, Alexander Koch), Julia Schmidt, Tilo Schulz, spector cut+paste, Christoph Weber
Oct 17 – Nov 21, 2009

Antirepresentationalism 1: Politics of Redescription. Conceptual and Socially oriented Art in Leipzig 1997–2009

, The Cabinet of Ramon Haze, Mario Pfeifer, Tina Schulz, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Tobias Zielony, Peggy Buth, Jan Caspers/ Anne König/ Jan Wenzel, Chat, Markus Dressen, Famed, Till Gathmann, Lina Grumm, Andreas Grahl, Henriette Grahnert, Mark Hamilton, Bertram Haude, Oliver Kossack, Andrea Legiehn, Thomas Lüer, Claudia Annette Maier, Ulrich Polster, Julius Popp, schau-vogel-schau, Julia Schmidt, Tilo Schulz, spector cut+paste, Christoph Weber, Arthur Zalewski
Sep 4 – Oct 10, 2009

KOW ISSUE 5: Spirituality and Anti-Universalism

, Chris Martin
May 1 – May 30, 2009

KOW ISSUE 4: THE SOCIAL USE OF SIGNS (OBLIGATION TO EXPRESS)

, Tina Schulz
Apr 3 – Apr 27, 2009

KOW ISSUE 3: Detroits' Post-Fordism

, Michael E. Smith
Mar 27 – Mar 29, 2009

KOW ISSUE 1: Participatory Minimalism

, Franz Erhard Walther
Feb 27 – Mar 21, 2009

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