MMP: Tobias Rehberger

Rehberger is interested in the encounter between artistic attitudes and social activities, and this has resulted in his conceptual designs for different social contexts. His eye catching style has clear references to the styles and culture of the 1960s and 1970s; it exudes a space-age optimism and joy, with sometimes even a touch of hedonism.

Many of Rehberger’s works suggest some kind of practical use in both public and private settings. For his Moderna Museet Projekt he has completed a new work, “JP005 (Model for a film)”, a cinema for one person, constructed in Prästgården. This comprises the first part of a “reverse film”, which breaks up the stereotypical cinema narrative by creating a film step by step from its conclusion. Instead of beginning with what is usually the first stage – the “intrigue” or plot the artist here has begun his film with what is usually the end of the process – the place where the film is shown. This cinema is designed for a single viewer, with only one seat – and without an image on the screen.

“JP005 (Model for a film)” may be seen as Rehberger’s contribution to the discussion of film in contemporary art. Rather than focusing on film as technique or semiotic apparatus, he illuminates and problematises film as a form of narrative. The film he creates here, and which he will show in subsequent exhibitions, not only tests the possibilities of different narrative structures but also transforms the collective character of film viewing into an individual experience. Rehberger has frequently used models in his work – as, for instance, those of the first Dokumenta museum furniture and of the typical non-figurative corporate sculptures which are often found beside the entrances of large companies. But he has also used models as tools for experimenting with new ideas.

With its interactivity and focus on a particular situation, its re-establishment of authenticity and its straightforwardness, it is tempting to place Tobias Rehberger’s work within the parameters of contextual art. He establishes relations with the viewer and invites co-operation; he pays attention to individuals and to their desires and experiences in a way that is reminiscent of classic humanism. However his work can also be understood as part of a new pictorial aesthetic in which excess is not only welcome but also assiduously cultivated.

Tobias Rehberger was born in 1966 in Esslingen and at present lives in Frankfurt and Berlin. He has recently had a one-man exhibition at the Kunsthalle in Basel and is currently featured in the European Biennial, Manifesta 2 in Luxembourg.

Curator: Maria Lind