Timo Kahlen. Works with Wind

Timo Kahlen. Junge Tüten (Young Bags), 1990

Five paper bags floating, dancing, thronging, competing
in the wind of two electrical fans in the corner of a room.
With no possibility to escape, the bags take on personalities,
each characterized by particular behaviour.
Pure play at first sight, the work soon becomes
"an ambivalent situation of life - through the cold precision
of a machine."
Philip Ursprung, Basel 1992

exhibited at Hochschule der Künste Berlin, 1990 / Bonner Kunstverein 1992
Diecidue Arte, Milano 1992 / Galerie de l'Esplanade, Paris 1994
DC Arts Center, Washington DC 1994 / Galerie Voges + Deisen, Frankfurt 1995
Landesgalerie Oberösterreich, Linz 1997  etc






Timo Kahlen. Vitrine (Display)
from: "Works with Wind",
initial exhibition of the
Kunst-Werke, Berlin 1991

The containment of a storm:
empty display case, industrial fan,
1 cubic meter of (invisible) storm






"Timo Kahlen: Works with Wind"
was the first (founding) exhibition of the Kunst-Werke Berlin
in June 1991

 


Timo Kahlen. Strömung (Current)
SOMA Projektgalerie Berlin,1997

Two opposed movements of air
interact as they meet in line with
the space's dividing wall and doorway.
Two symmetrical spaces,
four green nets, two industrial fans
with contrary wind direction

"Strömung", SOMA Projektgalerie, Berlin 1997

Timo Kahlen.
Small Turbulence (Proposal for
an immaterial sculpture), 1991 / 1999

Video loop, 1 min 43 sec
Steam from the street, kept in movement by cars.
Nominated for the Kahnweiler-Prize for Sculpture 2001

"Timo Kahlen’s work is characterized by a subtle perception
of the natural and the technical world. In his video Small Turbulence
(Proposal for an immaterial sculpture, 1991/1999)
Timo Kahlen takes the role of a discoverer in a world,
where there’s nothing left to discover, simply because
everything has seemingly been analysed and explained.
Nonetheless, what seems common, everyday, like the steam
coming from a sewage pipe in the busy streets of New York,
can be seen as a singular, phenomenal event
and truly become an ephemeral, immaterial sculpture.
Always, Kahlen tries to investigate and understand phenomena
at their blurry edges: just before, in between, besides and after
the actual event."
(Dr. Jule Reuter, Berlin 2001)




 


Timo Kahlen. Proposal for Immaterial Memorial, Oslo 2006

Memorial for Tsunami victims
and survivors, consisting of several
(immaterial, changing) colums of steam
and stone walls & benches

Public proposal and exhibition, Oslo 2006

Timo Kahlen. (SOMA inflated), SOMA Projektgalerie Berlin 1998

Continuously inflating and deflating
model (1:10)  of the gallery space,
industrial fan switching on and off

SOMA  Projektgalerie, Berlin 1998

Timo Kahlen
Aus dem Lot: Korrektur der Schwerkraft
(Out of Plumb: Correcting Gravity),
Kunst-Werke Berlin 1991

Two industrial fans suspended like pendules, rotating
from the ceiling: swinging and floating in mid-air
a small distance from the ground, out of plumb
and avoiding the perpendicular by the
force of the (invisible) air they expel.

The original work was part of
Timo Kahlen's inaugural exhibition at
the Kunst-Werke Berlin, "Timo Kahlen:
Arbeiten mit Wind", June 1991.
Image above: reconstructed prototype

Timo Kahlen. In Quarantäne (In Quarantine), 1992

Two sealed isolation wards of the recently
abandoned Russian military hospital
in direct proximity to the Bauhaus Dessau,
two powerful industrial fans moving the air within
"... and a strong sense of leakage... when faced with
the unseen (immaterial) danger of disease."
Joanna Littlejohns, Guernsey 2001

Exhibited at "(ueber Zeit)", artists of the Ruine der Kuenste Berlin
at the Bauhaus Dessau, 1992








Timo Kahlen. Dialog (Dialogue), 1998

Two or more mounted mens' shirts,
moved by the air of electrical fans
- engaging in a virtual, silent dialogue

Installation view Rheinbeckhallen, Berlin 1999 /
Conceptual model for installation at
International Artist in Residence Programme,
the gallery, Guernsey 2001



  



Timo Kahlen. Wind photographs, 1992

From a series of photographs: visual traces of wind, 1991 - 2010.

Exhibited in numerous contexts, including Dieci.Due! Gallery Milano 1992, Bonner Kunstverein 1992,
Museo Ken Damy Brescia 1992, Galerie Voges + Deisen, Frankfurt am Main 1993, Luftmuseum Amberg 2010.
Sammlung Kuenstlerfoerderung Berlin and Collection DZ Bank, Frankfurt am Main etc.






Timo Kahlen. Vortex, 1992

Five powerful industrial fans, mounted into a
cubic metal construction, create a furious storm.
The deafening sound and brutal force of the wind
fill the exhibition space, making the visitor hesitate
to approach the massive, volatile, aggressive object

Neue Galerie, Hochschule der Kuenste Berlin 1992

Timo Kahlen. Feld (Field), 1992

Sound and wind of twenty-five fans
moving at alternate speeds.
A cluster of multi-directional movement
and sound.

Installation view at Bonner Kunstverein, 1992








Timo Kahlen. To Brancusi, 1991

Nine steel construction elements propping / enclosing
fragile birds' nests to the gallery's ceiling.
A fragile balance, calling to mind thoughts of
birth and creation - and of interception and death.

Installation views at Dieci.Due!, Milano 1992
and at Ruine der Kuenste Berlin, 1991
 







Timo Kahlen. Kosmos, 1994
and Heimat # 2, 2010

Rotating birds' nests

Installation view "Scholars of the Karl-Hofer-Gesellschaft",
Berlin 1994 and artist's studio, Berlin 2010






Timo Kahlen has been creating
and exhibiting numerous wind installations
and works related to the material wind since 1989.

These so-called "Works with Wind"
have received wide recognition,
being nominated for the German
national Prize of Art Academies 1992
("Kunststudenten stellen aus") and
exhibited at AVE Arnhem 1990, Kunst-Werke Berlin 1991,
Bonner Kunstverein 1992, Galerie Voges + Deisen
Frankfurt 1993, Oberoesterreichische
Landesgalerie Linz 1997 etc.

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© Timo Kahlen / VG Bild-Kunst, 1999 - 2012