200% contributed to Christian Jankowski’s art installation ‘Review’, now showing at Friedrich Petzel Gallery in New York.
The German born artist invited art journalists and critics to write a hand-written review for the artwork he would eventually make with their reviews. After completing their texts, the art journalists and critics were asked to place the text inside an empty bottle of their choice and send them to the gallery. The final installation consists of approximately 100 bottles, sealed with red wax and spread across the main room of the gallery. With the reviews sealed, they are forever bound not being read (including the artist) rendering their intended use into ghost-like forms.
My initial thought was: “Is this a hoax?” To see how serious he was I approached Jankowski via email: “In order to gain a sense of your project: You’re inviting me to write a review about your project ‘Review’ – that consists of a large group of bottles, each one with a unique review of the work, by me as an art critic, rolled up and sealed with wax?”
Jankowski responded within half an hour: “To all your questions: Yes. Every single bottle, which I have received by different art critics, will be exhibited together as the project ‘Review’. I totally understand the writer’s conflict to create a review about a not-yet-seen-work. The idea is to write about the concept of ‘Review’.
Always up for a challenge and an experiment ‘to create a review about a not-yet-seen-work’, I decided to contribute to Jankowski’s ‘Message in a Bottle’ project.
My ‘tasteful’ contribution can be partly seen above: the second bottle on the left.
Written by Thierry Somers
Christian Jankowski ‘Discourse News’
Friedrich Petzel, June 21 – July 28
www.petzel.com
200% contributed to Christian Jankowski’s art installation ‘Review’, now showing at Friedrich Petzel Gallery in New York.
The German born artist invited art journalists and critics to write a hand-written review for the artwork he would eventually make with their reviews. After completing their texts, the art journalists and critics were asked to place the text inside an empty bottle of their choice and send them to the gallery. The final installation consists of approximately 100 bottles, sealed with red wax and spread across the main room of the gallery. With the reviews sealed, they are forever bound not being read (including the artist) rendering their intended use into ghost-like forms.
My initial thought was: “Is this a hoax?” To see how serious he was I approached Jankowski via email: “In order to gain a sense of your project: You’re inviting me to write a review about your project ‘Review’ – that consists of a large group of bottles, each one with a unique review of the work, by me as an art critic, rolled up and sealed with wax?”
Jankowski responded within half an hour: “To all your questions: Yes. Every single bottle, which I have received by different art critics, will be exhibited together as the project ‘Review’. I totally understand the writer’s conflict to create a review about a not-yet-seen-work. The idea is to write about the concept of ‘Review’.
Always up for a challenge and an experiment ‘to create a review about a not-yet-seen-work’, I decided to contribute to Jankowski’s ‘Message in a Bottle’ project.
My ‘tasteful’ contribution can be partly seen above: the second bottle on the left.
Written by Thierry Somers
Christian Jankowski ‘Discourse News’
Friedrich Petzel, June 21 – July 28
www.petzel.com
