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martin kippenberger

POVODOM IZLOŽBE “MODEL MARTIN KIPPENBERGER, UTOPIJA ZA SVAKOGA”“MODEL MARTIN KIPPENBERGER, UTOPIA FOR EVERYONE”kunsthaus, graz austrija austria2007. – 2008.

tekst written by ŽELJKO KIPKE

SLUČAJ KIPPENBERGERTHE KIPPENBERGER CASE

Zašto je umjetnička strategija Martina Kippen­bergera iz godine u godinu sve interesantnija muzejima i galerijama diljem svijeta? U ožujku ove godine (2007.) navršilo se deset godina od njegove smrti, a ostavština njemačkog umjetnika rođenog u Dortmundu (1953.) ne prestaje izazivati zanimanje struke te istodobno raste broj njegovih poklonika među posjetiteljima kulturnih institucija. Inteligentni strateg koji za života nije uspio uvjeriti velike muzejske kuće u svoju osobitost odjedanput je u istim institucijama postao omiljena i poželjna osoba. Je li možda u pitanju dobro poznata teza kako je “mrtav umjetnik najpoželjniji umjetnik”, pa se njegova ostavština doslovce može razvlačiti na sve moguće načine, a da pritom hiperproduktivna, ponekad drska i vrlo zahtjevna osoba ne stvara

Why is the artistic strategy of Martin Kippenberger becoming more interesting to museums and galleries throughout the world from year to year? The tenth anniversary of his death was in March 2007, and the heritage of this German artist born in Dortmund (1953) continues to pique the interest of the profession, while the number of his admirers visiting cultural institutions is simultaneously increasing. An intelligent strategist who never managed to convince the major museums of his uniqueness during his lifetime has suddenly become welcome and a favourite in these very same institutions. Is it perhaps a case of that well-known say that a “dead artist is the best artist”, so that his legacy can literally be dredged out in every possible way, without additional problems created by a hyper-productive, at times

Martin Kippenberger

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dodatne probleme? U svakom slučaju s “mrtvim umjetnikom” lakše se izlazi na kraj, pa je stoga i razumljiv pokušaj intendanta Kunsthausa Petera Pakescha da s timom stručnjaka na gornjoj etaži svoje institucije u Grazu, u vrijeme Štajerske jeseni, otvori poglavlje na temu etičkih i humanih vrednota u Kippenbergerovu radu. Dakako, takav posao nije bio nimalo lak s obzirom na općepoznatu egocentričnost i snažnu samopromotorsku crtu umjetnikova karaktera.”Model Kippenberger. Utopija za svakoga”, ka ko, naime, glasi naziv izložbe, pokušaj je uravnoteženja jedne dramatične umjetničke sudbine – nepredvidljive i uvijek drugačije, pri čemu je odsustvo stila bila njezina konstanta zbog čega svakoj budućoj priči o modelu treba pristupiti s krajnjim oprezom. Oni koji su za života dobro znali njemačkog umjetnika bi se, vjerujem, složili oko toga da izložba u Grazu ne bi zadovoljila njegov umjetnički apetit. No, s obzirom na to da u budućnosti nitko od kustosa i direktora ne očekuje nova iznenađenja od strane umjetnika, posve je prirodno da se novi “začini” smišljaju tamo gdje je to danas uobičajeno – među voditeljima izlagačkih kuća i njihovim bliskim suradnicima. Na izložbi u Grazu težište je stavljeno na Kippen­bergerov graditeljski posao, prije svega na za čud ne objekte, instalacije i nekoliko platna koja prikazuju neobične arhitektonske tvorevine, uklju čivši i dvije

even impertinent and very demanding person? In any case, it is easier to deal with a “dead artist”, and thus it is easier to understand the attempt of Kunsthaus manager Peter Pakesch to open a chapter on the subject of ethical and human values in Kippenberger’s works with a team of experts on the upper floor of his institution in Graz during the Styrian Autumn. Such a job was not at all easy, regarding the generally known egocentricity and strong self-promotional trait of the artist’s character.“Model Martin Kippenberger: Utopia for Everyone”, as the exhibition’s title suggests, is an attempt to balance a dramatic artistic destiny – unpredictable and always different. A lack of style was a constant in all that, and that is why each subsequent story on a model should be taken with a generous pinch of salt. I believe that those who knew the German artist well during this lifetime would agree that the exhibition in Graz would not satisfy his artistic appetite. However, since no curator or manager expects new surprises by the artist in the future, it is quite natural that new “spices” are created where it is common today – among managers of exhibition halls and their close associates.The Graz exhibition emphasizes Kippenberger’s construction work, primarily on remarkable objects, installations and several canvases that represent extraordinary architectural creations, including two

virtualne priče. Prva se odnosi na njegov privatni muzej na grčkom otoku Sírosu, gdje je zapušteni arhitektonski skelet nikad realizirane klaonice 1993. godine proglasio novim muzejom te ga nazvao MOMAS (Muzej moderne umjetnosti Síros) s jasnom aluzijom na newyoršku instituciju. S tom razlikom što Kippenbergerova akvizicija nije skupljala ni producirala umjetnine. Naime, njezina glavna aktivnost svodila se na tiskanje pozivnica – diljem svijeta distribuirala ih je umjetnikova galerija u Kölnu – no obuhvaćala je i druženja na licu mjesta u uskom krugu poznanika i istomišljenika te žive umjetničke projekte koji su se uglavnom bavili zatečenom geografijom i objektima u blizini sablasne građevine bez zidova i prozora. Skelet MOMAS­a, visoko iznad mora na stjenovitom zemljištu cikladskog otoka, neodoljivo je podsjećao na atensku Akropolu. Strateški je, nema sumnje, slijedio Broodthaersov Muzej orlova, uz važnu distinkciju ­ fiktivna institucija gotovo da nije prekoračila granice virtualnog. U njoj nije bilo mjesta za zbirku reprodukcija ni nomadsku kolekciju koja bi mijenjala lokacije kao što je bio slučaj s Broodthaersovim antimuzejom dva desetljeća ranije. Muzej na Sírosu imao je fiksnu lokaciju, na periferiji umjetničkih zbivanja, a prema riječima jednog od sudionika otočkih druženja i ujedno umjetnikova asistenta Ulricha Strothjohanna, nastao je kao Kippenbergerova reakcija na postojeće

virtual stories. The first refers to his private museum on the Greek island of Syros, where in 1993 he proclaimed the dilapidated architectural skeleton of a never constructed abattoir a new museum, and named it MOMAS (the Museum of Modern Art Syros) with a clear reference to the museum in New York. The difference was that Kippenberger’s acquisition did not collect or produce art works. Its primary activity was printing invitations – distributed all over the world by the artist’s gallery in Cologne. It also included meetings on the spot among a narrow circle of acquaintances and like-minded individuals, and live artistic projects which mostly dealt with the geography and facilities near the eerie building with neither walls nor windows. The MOMAS skeleton, situated high above the sea on the rocky terrain of a Cycladic island, irresistibly recalled the Acropolis in Athens. No doubt, strategically it followed Broodthaers’s Museum of Eagles, with an important distinction: a fictitious institution almost did not cross the borders of the virtual. There was no room in it for a collection of reproductions or a nomadic collection which would change locations as was the case with Broodthaers’s anti-museum two decades earlier. The museum on Syros had a fixed location, at the periphery of artistic events. According to Ulrich Strothjohann, one of the participants in the island’s meetings, and the artist’s assistant at the same time, it was created

Dragi slikaru, nas­likaj mi, 1981./ Dear Painter, Paint for Me, 1981

Muzej moderne umjetnosti Síros (MOMAS) / Muse-um of Modern Art Syros (MOMAS)

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muzeje, na njihovu strategiju te, između ostalog, jer je u percepciji njihovih ravnatelja i posjetitelja smatran autsajderom. Prirodno je da hiperaktivni umjetnik, kakav je bio Kippenberger, nema vremena čekati na pozornost vodećih izlagačkih kuća. On će svoju logistiku graditi zaobilaznim putem, vrlo često na mjestima bez muzejskog ili galerijskog pedigrea. Svoje “lože” postavljao je u poznatim lokalima i restoranima u Berlinu, Beču, Parizu, Kölnu i Grazu, zbog čega je teško bilo slijediti logiku njegovih umjetničkih poteza i preokupacija. Nepredvidljivim postupcima, u rasponu od angažiranja asistenata koji bi slikali po njegovoj narudžbi do pozicije kustosa koji je radove kolega koristio za vlastite projekte, opirao se sustavu koji je umjetnike dijelio u dvije kategorije – u one s povlasticama, uključene u sustav i one bez tih povlastica, među kojima je vidio i sebe. S druge strane, nisu svi muzeji početkom 90­ih godina 20. stoljeća gajili slične predrasude. U jednom od njih, rotterdamskom (Musem Boijmans­Van Beuningen), bio je u prigodi 1994. postaviti vrlo zahtjevnu instalaciju pod nazivom Sretni završetak Franz Kafkine “Amerike”. Zanimljivo je kako su osobni Kippenbergerovi znanci rotterdamsku instalaciju opisali kao dosadnu i brbljavu, dok se povjesničari umjetnosti i kustosi uglavnom slažu kako je riječ o izuzetnom projektu. No bez obzira na to, silna količina različitih sjedalica i stolova aranžiranih u formacije tipičnoj za intervjue, dakako bez živih sudionika, u drugom je planu, iza galerijske priče o Kafkinu nedovršenu romanu, bila je, zapravo, aluzija na intervjue koje umjetnici moraju voditi s ravnateljima muzeja prije dobivanja propusnice u povlašteno druš tvo ili njenog uskraćivanja. U

as Kippenberger’s response to existing museums, their strategy and, among other reasons, because he was considered an outsider in the perception of their managers and visitors. It was natural that a hyperactive artist, as Kippenberger was, did not have time to wait for the attention of the leading exhibition galleries. He would construct his logic in a detoured way, very often at places without a museum or gallery pedigree. He situated his “lodges” in well-known bars and restaurants in Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Cologne and Graz, thus making the logic of his artistic moves and preoccupations hard to follow. With unpredictable procedures, ranging from the engagement of the assistants whom he would commission to paint to the position of a curator whereby he would use his colleagues’ works for his own projects, he resisted the system which divided artists into two categories, those with privileges and incorporated into the system, and those without privileges, himself included. On the other hand, not all museums at the beginning of the 1990s had the same prejudices. In one of them, the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, he had the opportunity in 1994 to exhibit a very demanding installation entitled The Happy End of Franz Kafka’s “Amerika”. It is interesting that Kippenberger’s personal acquaintances described the Rotterdam installation as “dull and chatty”, while art historians and curators mostly agree that it was an exceptional project. Regardless of everything, the exhibition consisted of numerous different chairs and tables arranged in a manner typical of interviews, but of course without live participants, formed the background to the gallery story of Kafka’s uncompleted novel. Thus, it was actually an

Grazu je instalacija na temu Kafkina romana predstavljena skromno i dekorativno – s dvije istovjetne plastične sjedalice i jednim stolom.Druga virtualna priča tiče se postavljanja globalne mreže za njegov privatni metro, a cik­ladski je otok predstavljao prvu kariku u tom lancu. Na imanju svog prijatelja izgradio je prvi ulaz u podzemlje koji nikamo ne vodi. Michel Würthle, vlas nik imanja, sjeća se da je radnicima davao naputke za gradnju stepenica u spremište za vodu kako ne bi morao objašnjavati pravu svrhu radova i slabiti im

allusion to the interviews which ar tists had to undergo with museum directors before being admitted to – or barred from – the privileged society. In Graz, the installation on the theme of Kafka’s novel was presented modestly and decoratively, with two identical plastic chairs and one table.T he s e c ond v i r tua l s to r y concerns his establishment of a global network for his private metro. The Cycladic island was the first link in the chain. He built the first entrance to the underground railway, which leads nowhere, at a friend’s

Paris Bar, Berlin, 1993. / Paris Bar Berlin, 1993

Sretni završetak Kaf­kine “Amerike”, 1994., instalacija, Museum Boymans­Van Beunin­gen, Rotterdam / The Happy End of Franz Kafka’s “Amerika”, 1994 installation, Museum Boymans-Van Beunin-gen, Rotterdam

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motivaciju. Kasnije će se u Kanadi od drva graditi drugi ulaz – bit će to u Dawson Cityju, također 1993. godine. Posve je jasno da metro nije vodio nikamo, a sastojao se od ulaza i ujedno izlaza te ventilacijskih šahtova, među kojima se našao i onaj filmski iz “Sedam godina vjernosti”, nad kojim se digla plisirana suknja Marilyn Monroe. Ulazi i šahtovi pojavit će se još na kasselskoj “Documenti X”, parku skulptura u Münsteru 1997. te posthumno u Njemačkom paviljonu u Giardinima, u sklopu Venecijanskog bijenala 2003. godine U strateškom smislu njemački se umjetnik nije libio upotrijebiti manje ili više banalne vizualne obrazce bez obzira na to jesu li spadali u red općeprihvaćenih ili potpuno nepoznatih. Originalnost korištenih slika ili objekata svakako ga nije mučila, što je vrlo rano pokazao kada je krajem 70­ih od majstora za oslikavanje reklamnih panoa naručio deset velikih slika te ih kasnije izlagao pod nazivom “Dragi slikaru, naslikaj mi”. Prije četiri godine europskim središtima – Parizom, Bečom, Frankfurtom – kružila je izložba aktualnog slikarstva istoimenog naziva. Dakle, dvadesetak godina poslije Kippenbergerova drskog poteza tri su kustosice (Alison M. Gingeras, Sabine Folie i Blaženka Perica) isti koristile kao lajtmotiv slikarske prakse na početku novog tisućljeća. Štoviše, za potrebe izložbe “Trijumf slikarstva” u Saatchijevoj galeriji prije dvije godine iskovan je novi termin – Kippenbergijana. Njime se nastojala objasniti privlačnost otvorene i nepredvidljive umjetničke prakse među nadolazećim naraštajima europskih i američkih umjetnika. Štoviše, sam je umjetnik za života čvrsto vjerovao i ponavljao da njegovo vrijeme tek dolazi.Dakle, u tom pogledu simptomatična je bila globalna mreža privatnog metroa koja je, zapravo, odražavala njegovu umjetničku taštinu. Ventilacijske rešetke i ulazi, jedan drugačiji od drugoga, odražavali su njegove krajnje različite i na prvi pogled nepovezane umjetničke istupe. No, kao što su svi ulazi u metro bili slijepi, u skladu s motom tajne lože Lord Jim koju je osnovao zajedno s kolegama i suradnicima i koja je glasila: Nitko ne pomaže nikome – tako su i projekti predstavljali zatvorene sustave ili slijepe ulice. Oni su, jednako ulazima i rešetkama fiktivnog metroa, bili povezani nevidljivim kanalima, odnosno energetski, te su na začudan način bili usmjereni jedni na druge. Zbog toga je umjetnik – na čuđenje kustosa – objekte iz jednog programa nonšalantno koristio za drugi i pritom im mijenjao značenje i kontekst. Zbog toga je – opet na čuđenje kustosa – s lakoćom svakodnevicu preobražavao u umjetnički kontekst izjavljujući usput: “Ja sam ja – i ja sam mnoštvo ljudi”. Zbog toga je – mimo ustaljenih pravila izlagačke prakse – već krajem 80­ih slagao temelje buduće metro mreže

estate. Michel Würthle, the owner, remembers that he gave instructions to workers to build stairs into the water tank, so that he would not have to explain the real purpose of the works and diminish their motivation. The second entrance, made of wood, was later built in Dawson City, Canada, also in 1993. It is quite clear that the subway did not lead anywhere, and it consisted of the entrance, which was also the exit, and ventilation manholes, including the one from the film The Seven Year Itch, above which Marilyn Monroe’s pleated skirt flew up. Entrances and manholes would also appear at the Documenta (No X) in Kassel, a sculpture park in Münster in 1997, and posthumously in the German Pavilion at the Giardini, as part of the Venice Biennale in 2003.In the strategic sense, the German artist did not hesitate to use more or less trivial visual patterns, no matter whether they were part of the commonplace or the completely unknown. The originality of used images or objects certainly did not bother him, which he demonstrated very early on when, by the end of the 1970s, he commissioned ten large paintings from painters of large billboards and exhibited them later under the name “Dear Painter, Paint for Me.” An exhibition of the actual painting of the same name circulated in European centres – Paris, Vienna, Frankfurt – four years ago. Thus, about twenty years after Kippenberger’s impertinent move, three curators (Alison M. Gingeras, Sabine Folie and Blaženka Perica) used the same move as the leitmotif of painting

METRO­Net pokretni ulaz u podzemnu željeznicu, “Documen­ta X”, Kassel, 1997./ METRO-Net Transporta-ble Subway Entrance, Documenta X, Kassel, 1997

Ulaz u METRO­Net, podzemnu željeznicu u Sírosu, Gr~ka / The METRO-Net subway en-trance in Syros, Greece

Pokretni ulaz u po­dzemnu željeznicu, Münster, 1997. / Transportable Subway Entrance, Münster, 1997

Marilyn Monroe, scena iz filma “Sedam godina vjernosti”, 1955. / Marilyn Monroe, Scene from The Seven Year Itch, 1955

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kada je lokale, od Caféa Alt Wien u Beču do Paris Bara u Berlinu, uključujući i napuštenu benzinsku crpku u Brazilu koju je kupio i nazvao po Martinu Bormanu, pretvarao u poprišta umjetničkih zbivanja. Organizatori izložbe u Grazu su slijedom iste logike bili na dobrom putu kada su umjetnikovu ostavštinu stisnuli na gornju etažu, no propustili su izmiješati njezin sadržaj na provokativan i duhovit način, kako bi vrlo vjerojatno to učinio sam Kippenberger da je kojim slučajem živ. Kada je već na Kunsthausovu pratećem letku nekoliko puta istaknuta sintagma “Ja sam ja – i ja sam mnoštvo ljudi”, prava je šteta što u skladu s tim nije radikaliziran postav same izložbe. U okolnostima kippenbergerovskog meteža taj bi moto među izlošcima glasio otprilike ovako: svaki je objekt specifičan po sebi, no istodobno se u njemu odražavaju svi drugi s kojima je povezan nevidljivim nitima. U tom slučaju ključne riječi iz naslova izložbe – model te utopija za svakog imale

practices at the beginning of the new millennium. Furthermore, for the needs of the exhibition “The Triumph of Painting” in the Saatchi Gallery two years ago, a new term was coined – Kippenbergiana. It was used to explain the attractiveness of open and unpredictable artistic practice among the coming generations of European and American artists. During his lifetime, the artist himself firmly believed and repeated that his time was yet to come.In this respect, a global private subway network was symptomatic, which actually reflected his artistic vanity. Ventilation bars and entrances, each different from the other, reflected his utterly different and at first sight unconnected artistic performances. However, just as all of the subway entrances were dead-ends, in line with the motto of his secret Lord Jim Lodge, which he founded together with colleagues and associates: “Nobody helps anybody”, thus his projects also represented closed systems or blind allies. They were connected, in the same manner as the entrances and bars of the fictitious subway, by invisible channels, or energetically, and were directed towards each other in an astonishing way. That is why the artist, to the amazement of curators, nonchalantly used the objects from one programme for another, changing their meaning and context. That is why, again to the amazement of curators, he turned everyday life into the artistic context with ease, stating offhandedly: “I’m me – and I’m lots of people.” That is why, contrary to the established rules of exhibition practice, he arranged the foundations of a future metro by the end of the 1980s, when he turned bars, from the Café Alt Wien in Vienna to the Paris Bar in Berlin, including a deserted gas station in Brazil which he bought and named after Martin Bormann, into venues for artistic events. The Graz exhibition’s organizers, following the same logic, were on the right track when they squeezed the artist’s heritage on the upper floor, but they missed mixing its content in a provocative and humorous way, as Kippenberger himself probably would have done if he were alive. Since the Kunsthaus leaflet stresses the phrase “I’m me – and I’m lots of people”, it is truly a pity that the exhibition’s display was not radicalized in this regard. Under the circumstances of a Kippebergerian chaos, the theme running through all of the exhibits would go something like this: every object is specific unto itself, but at the same time it reflects all others with

bi svoje realno uporište. To više što je djelovanje njemačkog umjetnika svojedobno bilo povezano s Grazom. Riječ je o Forum Stadparku, gdje je 1987. u okviru tadašnje Štajerske jeseni organizirao skupnu izložbu različitih autorskih usmjerenja pod nazivom “Broken Neon”. Našavši se u ulozi kustosa, vješto ju je preobrazio u svoj umjetnički projekt i već tada je, posve konkretno, pokazao kako djeluje ta veza između njega i mnoštva ljudi u njemu.

which it is connected by invisible threads. In this way, the key words from the exhibition’s title, the model and utopia for everyone would secure their real foothold. All the more so because the activities of this German artist were once related to Graz. It was in the Forum Stadpark in 1987 where, as part of a that year’s Styrian Autumn, he organized a group exhibition of various authorial orientations entitled “Broken Neon”. Finding himself in the role of a curator, he skilfully turned it into his own artistic project, and already then, quite concretely, he showed how the link between himself and the “lots of people” in him works.

The Modern House of Believing or Not, 1985. / The Modern House of Believing or Not, 1985

Studentski dom u Riadu, 1985. / Studentenwohnheim in Riad, 1985

Pogled na izložbu, Kunsthaus, Graz, 2007. / Exhibition view, Kunsthaus, Graz, 2007