Portable Paradises: Gelatin

Where Are My Keys – WrMK is pleased to announce the sixth episode of Portable Paradises at Ausgabe presenting a not yet exhibited series of works by Gelatin: four photographs titled Microsculptures (2000/2024).

For the final episode of the site-specific art project, Gelatin is taking us to Down Under and back in time: In 2000 Ali, Florian, Tobias, and Wolfgang shot each other bottomless in Australia, depicting their Microsculptures standing lost in sceneries.

It is probably one of the most canonical subjects in painting, originated in Romanticism at the end of the 18th century: a seldom man gazing out into the wild nature. He, who is the one who represents mankind on the verge of enlightenment and industrialization carries hope but also doubt for the unknown future. Perhaps less emphasized, however, is the idea of the emotional man who carries nostalgia, worry and fear despite being depicted as the hard, confident, and strong. Yes, he too, can be soft, emotional, and irrational. The upbuilt image collapses.

In the field of sculpture this notion of Romanticism was less articulated but would result in an ambiguous handling of material: the concrete solid of the stone is being worked so rigorously that it loses its adherent characteristics and unveils a surprising and unexpected softness, grace, and an apparent immateriality. When it comes to perception nothing is set in stone; the figure is fleeting rather than lasting. The parti pris cascades. Stripped from hull and presumptions what stands before us are not simply four men with erected penises. The artists are alone in an undefined place, the time has passed; upswing is coming down and yet again we are gazing into uncertainty. Gelatin’s Microsculptures have not consolidated but are (still) INSTABIL in 2024. Could these images capture the very moment when the most patriarchal symbol of power is about to sag?

After its celebration in Antiquity, the phallic symbol was largely erased from art history during the Middle Ages and beyond. Its reintroduction in Modernity is marked not simply by reverence but by discomfort—depicted not anymore as an icon of potency, but as a site of inner conflict and a trigger for confronting social taboos.

As much as they are hard, they are soft, young and old, concerning and liberating, serious and most definitely humorous. One might wonder if it is a Freudian slip to bring wieners to a Würstelstand that does not sell sausages. Very gelatinesque!