The Brancusi Effect - An Archival Impulse

Description

The Brancusi Effect begins with the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi. Cited as one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century, Brancusi's considerations of the pedestal launched a reorientation of the relationship between object, viewer, and space, influencing Minimalism and the aesthetic of the installation as a whole. Brancusi's work, its modular structure and adaptability, can be seen as a point of departure; the autonomy of artworks abates in favor of a reflection on their historical and institutional positioning. Taking this influence into account, the exhibition and publication collect Brancusi's original photographic documentation. The installation reflects the recent currency of the sculptural within contemporary art while referencing Brancusi's sensibility. Copublished with Kunsthalle Wien on the occasion of the exhibition "The Brancusi Effect," Kunsthalle Wien Karlsplatz, June 12-September 21, 2014, and in collaboration with Dan Gunn, Berlin. Contributors Alessio delli Castelli, Paola Mola

Vanessa Joan Mu ller is Head of Dramaturgy at the Kunsthalle Wien. Nicolaus Schafhausen is a curator at the Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism in Munich.