Christoph Oertli

Aus dem Innenreich

February 17 – March 30 2008

Christoph Oertli presents three works in the Kunsthalle. The setting for Karta (2008) consists of an empty standing hospital, which is partly already in a state of decay. Through these cold, and even some decomposing places in the architecture, two young men are moving. Both video channels serve as a bold montage- and use overlaying techniques; together with the self-willed edits, this yields a distressing Staccato between Kafka reminisce architecture and a ghostly presence between the moving people. Tiger (2008) shows in three exhibition situations a woman, where she approaches different works of art. The objects are in one way or another animated. One time it is a vibrant balloon form like sculpture on a pedestal, then there is rotating projection of a crystal objects, and lastly there is a rotating meat object. The difference between living spectator and the dying art matter seems dissolved here; the art objects find themselves to be in a way life like and in an animated condition. In the centre of Still Seeing Disappeared the Sailors (2005) is a group of manly business people in a hall of a public building. Again and again there are absurd scenes, when some of the protagonists casually mingle with the formally dressed men, or others fall into a narcoleptic sleep, and in comparison must lay on the floor for a nap too. Christoph Oertli's videos are not just exciting stories from the real world, but rather reflections from conscious opinions, individual wishes and fears. These inner worlds that are suddenly manifested into visual reality awakes an inevitable compliment to surreal, if not neurotic impression.

Oliver Kielmayer