Susanne Pittroff, metamorphoses

22. April - 05. June 2010

The exhibition metamorphoses at the gallery Françoise Heitsch displays objects and drawings created during the last three years by Susanne Pittroff (Munich, 1959); her artworks play with the architectural design repertoire in order to disclose urban sites and their social relations. She uses simple forms, which are altered by the means of folding. Her work is to be installed on walls and on the floor, whereas the approach Susanne Pittroff takes towards form and medium happens instinctively, similar to that of a field researcher, who intends to render visible normative constraints. In doing so, geometries and structures are dissolved, re-assembled or ‘unfolded.’ The development of the created objects, consequently, is neither determinable nor predictable; rather, the forms’ concreteness increases due to the very working process. Albeit the design does not represent architectural projects, it still originates from urban environments. Thus, the artist shows wall objects titled ‘metamorphoses,’ which derive from an octagon’s floor plan. This form is repeatedly changed in a minimalist way. The installation ‘public shelter,’ too, refers to social spheres - private space or public space? Three mats are leaning against the wall, whereas the different order and colour of the cover produce, according to the mats’ positioning, various patterns. If the spectator engages with the concepts behind her objects and installations, s/he finds him/herself in a dilemma of ambiguities, which are supposed to relinquish fixed patterns of perception. As seen, for example, in the oversized necklace ‘bound to be wild’ from 2007. These are combined differences and opposing realities respectively, which have to be resolved and conceived as a harmonious interplay. Susanne Pittroff consciously creates these links and provides thought-provoking impulses in order to decode them. These ambiguous connections reflect social structures. It is a sphere in which the language of forms replaces conventional language - art becomes a form of language.