Timo Kahlen. Works with Wind

Timo Kahlen. Trojaner (Trojan), 2013
Sculpture, pedestal, scent,
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

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; reinstalled at FRISE Hamburg 2015

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

This video proposal for an immaterial sculpture
made of steam was nominated for the
"Kahnweiler-Prize for Sculpture" 2001
in Rockenhausen, Germany









Timo Kahlen. In der Schwebe (Afloat), 1992

Conceptual drawing for exhibition space
filled with drifting clouds of steam


Hochschule der Kuenste Berlin (University of the Arts Berlin), Berlin 1992

 


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. 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

The solo exhibition "Timo Kahlen: Works with Wind", in June 1991,
was the first and founding exhibition of the Kunst-Werke 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
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.
Installation view of site-specific installation at
"(ueber Zeit)", Die Ruine der Kuenste Berlin
am Bauhaus Dessau, 1992





  


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. Feld (Field), 1992

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

Bonner Kunstverein 1992, Karl-Hofer-Gesellschaft Berlin 1994.
Installation view at Bonner Kunstverein, 1992








Timo Kahlen. 12 Winde, 1991

Twelve electrical fans
oscillating out of sync at various speeds
in the dismantled, abandoned surgery
of the Russian military hospital.

Site-specific installation in the forbidden,
walled-up Russian military zone
of Dessau - just abandoned shortly before - ,
200 meters from the Bauhaus Dessau.


"(ueber Zeit). Die Ruine der Kuenste Berlin
am Bauhaus Dessau", Russisches Lazarett am Bauhaus Dessau 1991










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








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. Kuehler Wind (Cold wind), 1992

Installation at the Russian military hospital in Dessau,
abandoned and dismounted just weeks before. Five
photographs of visual traces of wind travelling through trees
and undergrowth 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 1991

   


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

Rotating birds' nests


Installation views at "Scholars of the Karl-Hofer-Gesellschaft",
Berlin 1994 and the artist's studio. Variations of an earlier kinetic object:
bird's nest rotating from the ceiling, Arnhem/Berlin 1991 (not pictured).








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. 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 -


Rheinbeckhallen, Berlin 1999 / International Artist
in Residence Programme, the gallery, Guernsey 2001.
Pictured: conceptual model for installation







Timo Kahlen
Divergence II, 2001
and related works

An isolated (akanthus) leaf animated
by the wind of an electrical fan

International Artist in Residence
Programme, the gallery, Guernsey 2001






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

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© Timo Kahlen / VG Bild-Kunst, 1999 - 2018