installation

collaboration with Kristina Kröger

Blurring the lines between prop and product, plinth and artwork, the installation playfully examines the presupposed borders between art, satire, design and social commentary by revolving around the societal individualization of mental health issues and their profitability. The displayed objects oscillate between artworks and products: their prices exhibiting themselves within the installation illuminate the tension between 'affordable young art' on the one hand and 'established' product design and its marketing on the other. The neon sign saying nothing changes if nothing changes reveals the both eerie and comical effects of 'getting better' being commodified: underlying imperatives of competition and meritocracy foster an anti-social realism in which systemic failure disguises as individual failure.

The installation “Nothing changes if nothing changes” I did together with Kristina Kröger for the group exhibition “Imagining Health”, organised as a collaboration between The Centre for the Study of Health, Ethics and Society at the University of Hamburg (CHES) and Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg (HFBK) to provide HFBK students the opportunity to explore the connections between scientific medical imaginaries, art, and history. Exhibition was realised in the ICAT (Institute for contemporary art and transfer) of the HFBK Hamburg. Using the street facing window of the ICAT, installation “Nothing changes if nothing changes”, plays with the aestetic of the store window. Installation contains of unfuncional furniture with a plynth function, objects displayed on top and cards with the description and price for each object. Looking from the street, visitors are able to see the pop up store of the fictional brand ‘Level’. The objects, furniture and cards are “mirrored” facing both street and gallery interior at the same time.