Opening Speech of LAb[au]'s solo show Zeit Zeichen | Zeichen Zeit
at Kunstmuseum Heidenheim, Germany
extract:
... The name and its spelling LAb[au] (pronounced La Bo) may seem strange at first glance. A capital L, a capital A, followed by a lower-case B, and then the letters A and U framed by square brackets. The square brackets make the whole thing look more like a code or mathematical equation. This effect is intended. The play with language, the continuous transfer of semantic systems from one form to another, and the inclusion of technology and mathematics are central parameters in the artist’s cosmos.
The name itself is an abbreviation for "Laboratory for Art and Urbanism" and combines the terms LAB, i.e. laboratory, which describes the artists' experimental/research approach, and the German word Bau, which describes a constructive attitude and further establishes a reference to the art of the German Bauhaus.
Ladies and gentlemen, you will notice that the group's name is already quite complex and demands a lot of our attention. This is also programmatic for the works you can see in this exhibition. Correctly speaking, it is not the seeing that is complicated. A first glance at the exhibition shows mainly monochrome works. In the center of the room, you see a large yellow field framed by black-and-white rectangles.
This makes the exhibition seem minimalist and quickly receptive. Only a close look and the reading of the often conceptually oriented experimental instructions lead to the fact that the heads are smoking. Thus, behind every black rectangle in the exhibition is a whole cosmos of thought into which we can immerse ourselves. One of the works, for example, is treated with a pigment that reacts with its surroundings. Thus, over time, the black square transforms into a white one. Suddenly we realize that this is about the exchange of energies, the passage of time put into the picture, and two opposites united in one work. At the same time, the work in the 'chroma' series is a commentary on art history. Monochrome artists such as Kasimir Malevich or Yves Klein wanted to depict infinity and colour energies with their colour surfaces; LAb[au] takes up these themes but rethinks them with 21st-century techniques and turns them into their opposite.
Even the large field that dominates the exhibition space is not only beautiful to look at and gives us a little bright colour energy in the cold and dark season. In essence, it is a reflection on the passing of time, which sometimes exceeds our human imagination. The work is already in decay and will disintegrate in 1600 years. Time is also the subject of works that have a concrete effect, which are graphic representations of entire millennia....
