Katja Aufleger

GONE
Museum Tinguely

DIE VERFÜHRUNG DER ZERSTÖRUNGSLUST


Katja Aufleger’s (b. Oldenburg, 1983; lives and works in Berlin) conceptual practice explores potentials inherent in the materials with which she works. Transparent objects made of glass and plastic are the elements out of which Aufleger develops delicate installations whose alluring aesthetic time and again captivates the eye with unforeseen turns: the fragile glass flasks, pendulums, and bottles—which recall industrially manufactured vessels—are filled with chemicals such as nitroglycerin that, if they were to escape, would cause an explosion. Besides this play with materiality and surface, the acoustic dimension is essential in many of Aufleger’s works. The artist presses vinyl records that represent the elevation differences of the moon’s craters in both the acoustic and the visual registers. To question the tenability of romantic relationships, she shoots lightbulbs to pieces, records the noise of the eruption, and loops it in a video as a pulsing breath soundtrack. Aufleger’s works scrutinize the simultaneous existence of multiple possibilities, involving us beholders in a thought experiment. Change, even destructive change, is implicit in her creations.

The exhibition catalog GONE offers the first comprehensive survey of Katja Aufleger’s practice, presenting a synopsis of works from the past ten years. With essays by Lisa Marleen Grenzebach and Quinn Latimer and a foreword by Roland Wetzel.

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