" `Falling` People and Parasitic Sculptures"
Talk by German artists Benedikt Partenheimer and Rita Hensen
Date and Time: Monday, October 29th, 19:00-21:00
Venue: AIT Room Daikanyama　*Booking required *Talk will be in English with consecutive translation

Left：Benedikt Partenheimer / Falling / Lars falling, Munich 2005
Right：Rita Hensen / Ausatmen(Breathe Out) / 2011 / multipartite, wood, lacquer, plastic / 140x240x45cm

AIT will host a talk by the current artists in resident from Germany, Benedikt Partenheimer and Rita Hensen on Monday, October 29th.

Benedikt Partenheimer and Rita Hensen are currently artist in resident until November with AIT, through the support of The Daimler Foundation in Japan.Their stay is part of the supporting arts program "Art Scope" funded by the same foundation, and an exhibition will be held in 2014 at the Hara Art Museum to show works which emerge from this residency.

Benedikt Partenheimer works and lives in Berlin, mainly producing photographs and video works. Past works include a series of photographs called "Falling" which capture people floating in mid air, parallel to the ground. Another series, "Boundaries" focuses on the political and national borders that originated from the breakdown of former Yugoslavia. The photographs of this series show various "invisible" borders and thereby call attention to the general idea of demarcation. For the series "Turnaround", he takes portraits of famous artists such as Damien Hirst, Dan Graham, Frank Stella - however, all from behind. The series addresses contemporary perception within the context of portraiture and establishes new and different positions for interpretation and imagination. The series examines external appearance and inner experience - the ambivalence of space. This particular series will be continued in Tokyo.

Rita Hensen studied at the Academy of Visual Arts in Munich, and currently works and lives in Munich.
Hensen works with various media, such as drawings, sculptures, and photography. The rich variety of colours and their use have their own in painting qualities. For an exhibition in 2011, she exhibited multiple works such as "Depot 1" a colorful sculpture shaped like a mountain range, and "Ausatmen (Breathe Out)" another sculpture made of thin boards and plastic spheres, its appearance somewhat like an architects' model. Her works are a bit like parasites; growing and extending itself within the exhibition space. On a closer look, the viewer realizes unpainted surfaces of the original material, or pencil marks of notes when building the works, allowing us to visually `see` the artist`s thinking process. From what point do the works become a `sculpture`? Where is its starting and/or ending point?

During the talk, the two artists will introduce their past works, about the creative process and concept behind them. They will also share their discoveries through their stay in Tokyo, and possible ideas for new works.

The talk will be in English with consecutive Japanese translation by AIT staff.

2012-10-15

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