K AR I N BOR E R 2 0 2 0

K A R I N B O R E R (*1981 lives and works in Basel CH)2013 – 2016 MA Fine Arts, Zurich University of the Arts, Zürich CH2011 – 2017 Co-founder Schwarzwaldallee Artist-run-space Basel CH www.schwarzwaldallee.ch2008 Russland, Mongolei, Japan, China, Vietnam, Hongkong2003 – 2006 BA Visual Communication, Academy of Art and Design, Basel CH

S O L O E X H I B I T I O N S2017 Choose a character Milieu Bern CH2015 FLUID RETO Project space Zürich CH – cur. by Ian Wooldrige

G R O U P E X H I B I T I O N S ( s e l e c t i o n )2020 KASTEN Stadtgalerie Bern CH – cur. by Luca Beeler and Cédric Eisenring with Rosa Aiello, Camille Aleña, Adelhyd van Bender, Patricia L. Boyd, Manuel Burgener, Lisa Herfeldt, Samuel Jeffery, Maggie Lee, K.R.M. Mooney, Kaspar Müller, Phung-Tien Phan, Vaclav Pozarek, Marta Riniker-Radich, Julia Scher, Richard Sides, Davide Stucchi, Sergei Tcherepnin, Angharad Williams, Amy Yao MOTOR Kunst Raum Riehen CH – with Samuli Blatter, Stefan Burger, Daniel Kurth, Max Leiss, Selina Lutz, Nico Müller, Alexandra Navratil, Aldo Solari, Inka ter Haar, Anna B. Wiesendanger, Aline Zeltner2019 AIRBN3 Rue des Eaux-Vives Genève CH – cur. by Nelly Haliti with a.o. Kevin Aeschbacher, Akiyoshi Deschenaux, Othmar Farré, Ramon Feller, Daniel Kurth, Lauris Paulus, Matthias Liechti, Raphael Loosli, Ivan Mitrovic, Thomas Moor, Gil Pellaton, Cassidy Toner, Léonie Vanay, Sophie Yerly Jahresausstellung Kunstmuseum Olten CH2018 Le vent nous portera…Kunsthalle Basel CH – cur. by Jean-Claude Freymond-Guth with a.o. Matthias Huber, Dominique Koch, Raphael Linsi, Reto Pulfer, Mia Sanchez I Am Flowers. I Am Animals. Kunsthaus Langenthal CH – cur. by Raffael Dörig and Eva-Maria Knüsel with Aurelio Kopainig, Maya Minder, Silvia Studerus Space Invaders La Rada Locarno CH – cur. by Riccardo Lisi with a.o. Alan Schmalz, Davide Dicorato, Bastien Gachet, Nino Baumgartner Private View Haltingerstrasse 98, Basel CH – self-initiated project with a.o. Othmar Farré, Nelly Haliti, Jan Kiefer, Daniel Kurth, Matthias Liechti, Raphael Loosli, Gil Pellaton, Cassidy Toner, Léonie Vanay, Sophie Yerly Cantonale Berne Jura Kunsthaus Pasquart Biel CH – cur. by Damian Jurt Hows Villa Renata, Basel CH – self-initiated project2017 Basement Berlin D – self-initiated project with Daniel Kurth and Léonie Vanay Liquid Fertilizer Kunstverein Freiburg D – cur. by Heinrich Dietz & Ann-Kathrin HarrwithDorotaGawęda&EgléKulbokaité,MarieMatusz,MiaSanchez, Yanik Soland, Katinka Theis, Mona Zeiler, Angela Cerullo & Giorgio Bloch A Manual to Move Kunsthaus L6 Freiburg D – cur. by Katrin Bauer Urgent Paradise Lausanne CH – with Schwarzwaldallee Schwarzwaldallee Basel CH – self-initiated project

2017 Limbus Raum 103 Basel CH – cur. by Martin Chramosta with a.o. Daniela Baldelli, Markus Lichti, Daniel Kurth, Yanik Soland, Peter Fritzenwallner, Katharina Höglinger 2016 teilungen MA Degree Show ZHdK Zürich CH – cur. by Joerg Franzbecker Better Ideas for Life Karlin Studios / Futura Prag CZ – cur. by Caroline Krzyston and Michal Novotný / Ausstellungsraum Klingental Basel CH withSimonFahrni,RamonFeller,TerezaFišerová,KryštofHluže,JakubJansa, Daniel Kurth, Matthias Liechti, Dimitri Niktin, Jonáš Strouhal Jahresausstellung Kunstmuseum Solothurn CH 2015 Jungs hier kommt der Masterplan! Kunsthalle Basel CH – cur. by Johannes Willi Living Memory Papierfabrik Zwingen CH – cur. by Barbara van der Meulen Jahresausstellung Kunstmuseum Olten CH2014 Studiolo KW Institute for Contemporary Art Berlin D – cur. by Erik Steinbrecher

G R A N T S / R E S I D E N C I E S2019 Artist in Residence La Dépendance, St. Imier2017 Werkbeitrag Kunstkredit Kanton Basel-Stadt Artist in Residence Atelier Mondial in Berlin Kanton Basel-Stadt

P U B L I C AT I O N S2018 I Am Flowers. I Am Animals. Kunsthaus Langenthal CH with an interview by Raffael Dörig, curator Kunsthaus Langenthal2016 Booklet Better Ideas for Life Basel – Prag ebook MA Degree Show Zurich University of the Arts, Zürich2015 Living Memory Papierfabrik Zwingen2014 Booklet 111h Berlin Studiolo, KW Institute for Contemporary Art Berlin

It is about the relationship between man and his environment – the peculiar relationship that humanity has developed in its urge to acquire and control botany and zoology through interpretation.

It is about observation, about fragments. It is about industry, mechanics, power, control, systems.

Facts are manifested in objects, sculptures and installations. These become stage-like dystopic settings – complemented by ephemeral interventions.

The human actor remains present as an absentee figure.

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P r a c t i c e2020Video loop (27‘40)

Two metal balls turn laps in one hand. At the beginning uncoordinated, at the end more and more fluid. In the reflection of the metal the environment and the person to the hand can be recognized. Pupils are staring back.The rhythm is meditative and the hands lull the viewer.The world is upside down and one feels safe and well controlled.Practice period: every three days for a month.

video → www.karinborer.ch/videos/practice-web.mp4

D a n g e r2018Charred wood

Wooden boxes treated with the traditional Shou Sugi Ban technique against parasites hang in different places in the rooms and seem to float above the heads. Discrete viewing slits and round holes suggest visual control over the visitors.By merely hinting at the presence of possible actors and causal relationships, potential performative actions or transformations can be imagined.

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U n d e r w o o d (work title)2020Charred wood, fabric, carpet, metal

Settings for a past or upcoming magic show irritate through the surface. A possible action is only hinted at. The objects are fake: the boxes cannot be opened or folded. They have holes and slots for possible sliders and swords that could penetrate through the boxes.

In order to achieve a magic art illusion, a variety of different techniques are used with the absolutely perfect and necessary control: psychology, exploita-tion of perception gaps, distraction, tricks, optical illusions, special lighting, tricky apparatuses and physical connections. Something happens which seems to elude the control of the spectator, but which must be perfectly controlled by the actor in order for the desired effect to take place.

Supposedly dangerous objects like swords or knife sliders hang on the wall. They are props for magic shows. The objects appear simple: metal with char-red and oiled wooden handles.

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C h o o s e a c h a r a c t e r2017Wood, steel, ropes, mineral stones: Canto-Vit (Singing), Ferti-Vit (Singing & fertility), Omni-Vit (Breeding & condition), bird sand, engraved tongs, gas bur-ner, drip tips, incense balls: Muira Puama (Euphoric, narcotic, pleasantly hallu-cinant), Guggul (Gloom and doom), Jasmine Absolue (Frighten me)

The installation consists of blow-ups of parts from bird aviaries, equipped with mineral stones to optimize the animals and three metal columns that serve as displays for burning three sorts of incense balls.The three scents used for the incense balls are based on the aphrodisiac smell of the bird Kakapo - a large, flightless parrot. Its scent, which is actually inten-ded as a lure for mating, attracts imported animals, for which the defenceless bird becomes easy prey. The name of the scent is engraved on the incense tongs belonging to the columns. The names of the scents, which are aphrodisiacs for humans, refer to dystopian wordings of different contexts.

R o c c o , C a l y p s o & B a d B i l l2016Dangerous goods container, ramps, suspension device, karabiners, rings, co-conuts, coconut oil, ropes

Materials from the breeding and domestication of birds meet elements from industry: a suspension device for liquid dangerous goods, three ramps, a han-ging device with carabiners, rings, ropes, coconuts and coconut fat. A moment seems to be interrupted, the situation is shut down. Only the grease continues to drip from the ropes.E

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C o m m u n i t y , i d e n t i t y , s t a b i l i t y . O h y o u a r e s o …W h e r e ’ s t h e m y s t e r y ?2017Formicarium (Panopticum, detail Garden of Versailles I+II, mental asylum, Persian Garden), Worry Stones (Black Tourmaline, Agate, Howlith, Tiger Eye, Rose Quartz, Gold River, Dumortierite, Fuchsite, Sodalite), gratings

In Formicariums - systems for observing and imitating ants - floor plans of gardens (Versailles Garden, Persian Garden), clinics (Psychiatric Institution) and prisons (Panopticon) have been milled into the surface.Heterotopian approaches and the order-systematic meaning of spaces and places are reflected upon.

The Formicariums are equipped with so-called Worry Stones, which are car-ried in the trouser pockets and are supposed to maintain the belief in the other. Engraved examples: A l t e r n a t i v e , M y s t e r y, E x c e s s , E x i l e , P a r a d i s e , Re b i r t h , C o e x i s t e n c e .

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We ’ r e h o m e I - I I I2018Jute rope, houseplant leaves, galvanized steelO d y s s e y , D e s i r e s , E n e r g y , S a t i s f a c t i o n , Tr a n s i t i o n , S e t t l e d n e s s , S i m u l a t i o n , D i s o r i e n t a t i o n20188 Hand-blown glass watering bulbs for plants, colored sandO n l y d e s i r e i s d e s i r a b l e2018Desk flag stand, satin, celery stamp, natural hair dye

Plants, which have their origin in tropical rain forests, open savannah landsca-pes, subtropics, alternating humidity forests as well as in temperate zones, stand together naturally as domesticated nature in our interiors and cont-ribute to the improvement of air humidity and clean the air from pollutants. We‘re home weaves these zones into a carpet - carpets as woven paradise gardens. We‘re home is a quotation from Stalker (Andrei Tarkowski).Irrigation balls for plants are filled with colored sand, as if they were brought home as a souvenir.

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S t ö r e m e i n e K r e i s e n i c h t ! ( O r i g . Μ ή μ ο υ τ ο ὺ ς κ ύ κ λ ο υ ς τ ά ρ α τ τ ε ! A r c h i m e d e s , 2 1 2 v . C h r . )2017I t ‘ s v e r y b e a u t i f u l o v e r t h e r e . ( T h o m a s E d i s o n , 1 9 3 1 )2017Construction wood, gratings, square tube, dangerous goods container, coconut fibres & oilThe work was part of the last exhibition of the artist-run-space Schwarz-waldallee (was run by Karin Borer and others) which was closed after six years.

By walking up towards the (industrial) masks made of coconut fibres enthroned on the constructions, one becomes part of a predetermined ritual - a possible (sacrificial) ceremony. Sitting or standing, one can say goodbye to the rooms. The materiality of the masks refers to the clothing woven from coconut fibres in the past to protect against rain.The stair constructions with their ends that do not seem to be closed indi-cate something indeterminably absent. Appropriations of processes, presence and absence, natural and artificial pro-tection and rituals that are integrated into everyday life are supplemented by the supposedly last words of Archimedes and Thomas Edison in the form of the two titles.

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R a m p s , b r a c k e t s , h o l d e r s 2020 - ongoingAquarelle drawing

An on going series of drawings of stairs, ramps, brackets, supports. The objects are depicted without context and thus become placeholders for something unknown absent. They are objects that support, facilitate and offer help.

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D a n g e r2018Charred wood, picnic blankets (lamprey, tick, roundworm, nematode, hook-worm), lollis (finger, toe, liver, small intestine)Audio loop in collaboration with Daniel Kurth

Woolen blankets spread out on the floor and charred wooden tables seem to invite to a picnic-like round or contemporary eating ceremony.Lollipops are ready for consumption - lollipops in the form of fingers, toes, liver pieces and intestinal segments.Fragments of current pop music accompany the installation and remind us of a scene in the park through the portable boom box.

F a s t G r o w P r o I - I I I2016LED growth lamps, timer, steel, electrical tapeC o m p o s t Te a2016Liquid fertilizer, air pump, rainwater tank, compost, rotting, stocking

LED growth lights on stands dazzle everything present in an alternating com-position by automatically switching on and off.310 liters of liquid fertilizer ferment at the end of the room with the help of an air pump without any benefit to itself and also stimulates and irritates the visitors olfactorily.

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I ‘ m a f r a i d t o f a i l . W h a t a f e e l i n g – T h e i n f e r n a l s e r p e n t .2017Salt dough knotsS i g n o f a p o s s i b l e r e c o n c i l a t i o n . Wo w , g r a v i t y ! W h i c h s i d e w e ‘ r e o n .2017Linen, plant powder, celery stamp, wood, rubber, celeryG h o s t S t o r y ( e x c e r p t o f T h e W i l l o w s b y A . B l a c k w o o d , 1 9 0 7 )2017Chalk

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F r i g h t2016LED growth lamp, grass seeds, humus, fabric, wood, aluminium, containerC o m p o s t Te a I I 2016Liquid fertilizer, gratings, containers, air pump, tubes, stands F l i p p e r2013Video loop

The exhibition is located in the basement of Karlin Studios in Prague, where living conditions are difficult far from daylight.An LED growth lamp simulates natural daylight above a scarecrow whose hair of grass grows from a head of humus during the exhibition. Liquid fertilizer is produced in several buckets. On old water pipes, Flipper from the US TV series Flipper is dancing incessantly across a small screen.

They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,no-one you see is smarter than he,and we know Flipper lives in a world full of wonder,flying there under, under the sea!

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F L U I D2015Reptiles terrarium, Dummy TV, lights, refrigerator light bulbs, fogger with LEDs, aluminium pipe, waterfall, LEDs, containers, vases, fountain pumps, wa-ter, ceramic tiles, tubes

Function and dysfunction of pumps and other machines such as foggers or waterfalls for artificially humidifying the interior of common areas - both private and public - are supposedly chaotically arranged in the RETO Project space in the FLUID work.In one corner, a dummy TV is blinking tirelessly to deter burglars towards a part of a terrarium, whose continuous blinking remains trapped in an infinity mirror. Vase-like containers assist the bustle at the edge of the room.

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C O N TA C T2015Prepared neon lights

The former transformer station of the paper factory outside the site is acti-vated by the repetitive flare of the still existing neon tubes. The disconnected connection does not yet seem to be shut down forever. The light creates publicity, one last time the former power system establishes contact between the factory and the area outside the fence.

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