The main installation of “In Apnoesie,” Simon Schubert's first solo exhibition in Berlin, collects crisp, clean black-and-white sculptures that recall horror-film tropes. At first glance, its cool presentation suggests that our nightmares have become domesticated, maybe even sanitized. But somehow, they still do not feel safe. The distance that Schubert achieves by removing any hint of gore and by addressing his darkly surreal source material with a levelheaded aesthetic slowly accentuates the creepiness of his work, even for viewers jaded by graphic violence....The show’s most impressive images are almost invisible at first. Lining the walls and ceiling are stark white panels of paper, which Schubert has folded and layered over other white sheets to evoke subtle sculptural images of classic wall moldings, long corridors, staircases, and halls with mirrors, like a stately, but probably haunted, house.
Ana Finel Honigman
Artforum.com
The staircase one, especially, looks like a "ghost" of the actual staircase.
ReplyDeleteI've observed interestingly that I (and perhaps the most of us) approach most work with a certain cynicism...after wrapping my head around the idea behind it, though, the work suddenly transforms. I suppose it would be ridiculous for everyone to get all art immediately, but it makes me marvel at how our perception suddenly shifts with deeper understanding. Suddenly a mere line holds so much greater meaning.