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 / Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen 2011
etc
Timo Kahlen. Small Turbulence
(Proposal for an immaterial sculpture)
made of steam, 1991 / 1999
Video loop, 1 min 43 sec
Steam from the street, kept in movement by cars
"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)
This video proposal for an immaterial sculpture
made of steam was nominated for the
"Kahnweiler-Prize for Sculpture" 2001
in Rockenhausen, Germany
Timo Kahlen. Proposal for Immaterial Memorial,
Oslo 2006
Memorial for Tsunami victims
and survivors, consisting of several
(immaterial, changing) columns of steam
and stone walls & benches
Public proposal and exhibition, Oslo 2006
Timo Kahlen. Tautologischer Raum
(Tautological Space), 1990 /
2015
Kinetic sound installation
The factual wind of a rotating electrical fan
directs a single loudspeaker
suspended from the ceiling to rotate slowly
and as if by chance, changing its speed and direction in
mid-air;
thereby projecting the (likewise artificial) sound of wind
emitted by the speaker
to move across, to meander, to slide and to rotate
along the gallery's walls.
Hochschule der Kuenste Berlin 1990; re-installed at FRISE Hamburg 2015
Timo Kahlen
Vitrine (Display), 1991
from: "Timo Kahlen: Works with Wind",
the inaugural and first exhibition of
Kunst-Werke Berlin, June 1991
The containment of a storm:
empty display case, industrial fan,
1 cubic meter of (invisible)
storm
The solo exhibition "Timo Kahlen: Works with Wind", in June 1991,
was the first and founding exhibition of the
KUNST-WERKE (KW) in Berlin
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
"Timo Kahlen: Strömung"
SOMA Projektgalerie, Berlin 1997
Timo Kahlen. Windphotographien,1991 - 2018
The ongoing series of
'Wind Photographs' records visual traces of wind
moving through the branches and foliage of trees.
In the long time exposures, defined contours dissolve
into abstract representations of a transient motion.
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,
Märkisches Museum Witten 2017, DZ Bank Kunstsammlung, Frankfurt am Main 2017.
Sammlung Kuenstlerfoerderung Berlin and Collection DZ Bank, Frankfurt am Main etc.
Installation view at "Timo Kahlen: Windwechsel", Luftmuseum Amberg 2010
Work in progress 1991 - 2018
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
"Timo Kahlen: Arbeiten mit Wind", Neue Galerie, Hochschule der Kuenste
Berlin 1992
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,
creating a thundering, invisible storm
"... and a strong sense of leakage... when faced with
the unseen (immaterial) danger of disease."
Installation view of the site-specific, temporary wind installation at
"(ueber Zeit): Die Ruine der Kuenste Berlin am
Bauhaus Dessau", Dessau 1992.
Quoted from a text by Joanna Littlejohns, Guernsey 2001.
Timo Kahlen. 12 Winde, 1992
Twelve electrical fans
oscillating out of sync at various speeds
in the dismantled, abandoned surgery
of the former Russian military hospital.
Site-specific installation in the formerly forbidden,
walled-up
Russian military zone of
Dessau - abandoned shortly before - ,
just 200 meters from the historic site of Bauhaus Dessau
Installation view at "(ueber Zeit): Die Ruine der Kuenste Berlin
am Bauhaus Dessau", Russisches Lazarett am Bauhaus Dessau, 1992
Timo Kahlen
Kühler Wind (Cold Wind),
1992
Installation at the former Russian military
hospital in Dessau, completely abandoned and
dismounted, stripped of all its electrical or technical
parts
just weeks before. Five photographs of visual traces of wind
travelling through trees and undergrowth are displayed
on tiled pedestals and sealed behind glass.
Blue antiseptic neon light, five pedestals
and 'Wind photographs' in the dismantled surgery
"(ueber Zeit): Die Ruine der Kuenste Berlin am Bauhaus
Dessau",
Russisches Lazarett am Bauhaus Dessau 1992.
See 'Wind photographs' above.
Timo Kahlen. Feld (Field), 1992
Sound and wind of twenty-five electrical fans
moving at alternate speeds. A
cluster of multi-directional
movement and sound
Competion of German Art Academies
at Bonner Kunstverein 1992. Re-installed at Karl-Hofer-Gesellschaft Berlin 1994.
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
Further presentations at Hochschule der Kuenste Berlin, 1992
and Kunsthalle Basel 1992. Re-installed for the retrospective
of the Ruine der Kuenste Berlin, in 2015
Timo Kahlen. Without Title, 1990
A fragile setup: heavy steel beams
balancing fragile birds' nests
Sommeratelier, Hannover / Germany 1990, De Gele Rijder, Arnhem / NL 1990
Pépinières, Béthune / France 1991, Hochschule der Kuenste Berlin 1992.
Early variations include: one
single bird's nest rotating from the ceiling, Arnhem/Berlin 1991.
And: clusters of birds' nests, rotating at low speed,
as in "Kosmos" at 'Scholars of the Karl-Hofer-Gesellschaft', Berlin 1994,
or in "Heimat # 2", Berlin 2010 (not pictured).
Timo Kahlen. Wehen, 1990
In the synaesthetic installation “Wehen” the viewer
is hit by wind and sound: simultaneously tactile
and acoustic, the viewer feels and hears the wind
of seven industrial blowers mounted to a steel beam,
suspended from the ceiling at eye-level, like a storm
on the horizon. Rotating at different (full and
throttled) speeds, the electric fans
moan and whistle,
creating various layers of ‘white noise’. Small speakers
mounted discretely behind each fan emit two further
layers of (prerecorded) sound of the same fans
at a virtual, doubled and a very low-pitched speed
- again modified by the whirling air currents
as each single sound passes through the electrical fan.
On the wall behind, three bird’s nests
lie abandoned on a coat rack
Hochschule der Kuenste, Berlin 1990
Sommeratelier, Hannover 1990
Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen 1992
Isolated birds' nests at Kunst-Werke Berlin, 1991
Timo Kahlen
Korrektur der Schwerkraft (Correcting Gravity),
Kunst-Werke Berlin 1991
Two industrial fans suspended
like pendules, rotating from the ceiling
in "Timo Kahlen: Works with
Wind",
inaugurating the Kunst-Werke Berlin
in 1991: 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
that they expelled.
The solo exhibition "Timo Kahlen: Works with Wind", June 1991,
was the first and founding exhibition of the
Kunst-Werke Berlin.
Variations of this work at Scholars of the Pépinières Européenes,
Béthune / France 1990 -1991 and at the Ruine der Künste Berlin.
Installation view: prototype
Timo Kahlen. Schwarzes Rauschen (180 min of Wind)
from the series of
audio tape sculptures, 1996
Hochschule der Kuenste Berlin (University of the Arts Berlin),
Berlin 1996
Timo Kahlen. From the series of
audio tape sculptures, 1996
A curtain of 'wind' recorded on tape.
Lines of audio tape, installed in
an open window : forming a visual 'screen'
of multiple horizontal lines interacting,
interfering and flickering - like 'white noise' -
in the draft of the open window
Hochschule der Kuenste Berlin
(University of the Arts Berlin), Berlin 1996.
Pictured: Conceptual drawing. Collection of the artist
Timo Kahlen. Dialog (Dialogue),
1998
Two or more mounted mens' shirts,
moved by the air of
electrical fans
- engaging in a virtual, silent dialogue -
Presented at Rheinbeckhallen, Berlin 1999 and International Artist
in Residence Programme, the gallery, Guernsey 2001.
Pictured: conceptual model / project proposal for installation, 1998
Timo Kahlen. Sisyphus, 2018
Balancing forces: wind and gravitation.
Slanted plate, electrical fan, sphere.
The object forced half way up the slope
Installation view at the artist's studio
Timo Kahlen. Weightless, 2018
A feather suspended, rising and
falling, 'floating' perpetually
above a gallery pedestal.
Very little wind projected
from an electrical fan mounted
into the pedestal
Installation view at the artist's studio. Early forms of this
type of work include
a single, isolated (natural) leaf, animated by the (artificial) wind of an
electrical fan,
as in the wind installation "Divergence (No. II)", International Artist
in Residence
Programme at 'the gallery', Guernsey 2001 - amongst a number of other small-scale
wind installations from the series.
Timo Kahlen. Perpetuum, 2018
Worn and fixed tyres, condensed air
Installation view at the artist's studio
Timo Kahlen. Trojaner (Trojan), 2013
Sculpture, pedestal, scent of sweet perfume,
and 3D lenticular postcard edition
The sweet perfume emitted by the splintered,
fragmented, abstract red sculpture - the 'Trojan' -
catches public attention, as the artist carries the object,
placed on a white pedestal, through the streets of Berlin,
appearing here and there, at random locations.
On request, spectators and passers-by are encouraged
to take home as a present a very attractive 3D postcard
of the object: a state-of-the-art lenticular,
multi-layered
photograph of the 'Trojan', presenting a sequence
of multiple and changeable three-dimensional views
of the object, as the postcard is held and seen
at different angles.
This conversation piece, the attractive and
unexpected present, now travels into the homes and
offices, trespasses the threshold from
public to
private sphere, to unfold its viral effect
"Timo Kahlen: Trojaner", Temporäre Kunstprojekte, Galerie M, Berlin 2013
Since 1989, Timo Kahlen has been creating
and exhibiting numerous wind
installations and other
sculptural and conceptual works related
to the material wind.
These ephemeral and kinetic ' Works with Wind '
have received wide recognition, and
were nominated
for the German national Prize of Art Academies 1992.
Kahlen's 'Works with Wind' were exhibited
- amongst other locations - prominently at
the
Kunst-Werke Berlin in 1991, at Hochschule der Kuenste
Berlin
(now University of the Arts Berlin) from
1990 to 1994,
at Bonner Kunstverein in
1992, at Galerie Voges + Deisen Frankfurt
in 1993,
at DCAC Arts Center in
Washington D.C. in 1994,
at Oberoesterreichische Landesgalerie
Linz in 1997,
at Luftmuseum (Air Museum) Amberg in 2010,
at Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen in 2011,
at Galerie M, Berlin in 2013 and
at FRISE in Hamburg in 2015
Timo Kahlen
Works with Wind
Sound Sculptures
Experimental Media
Experimental
Photography Impressum / Contact
© Timo Kahlen / VG Bild-Kunst, 1999 - 2019