Claudia Christoffel FOR AND AGAINST EVERYTING (photo by Franziska von den Driesch)
Claudia Christoffel
Friday, May 5th 5-7pm: Opening Reception
Friday, May 5th 7pm: FOR AND AGAINST EVERYTHING – FOR LOVE MAGIC (performance)
Saturday, May 6th 3-5pm: Meet the Artist
Saturday, May 6th 5pm: Artist Talk
Saturday, May 6th 6pm: FOR AND AGAINST EVERYTHING – FOR PROSPERITY (performance)
Sunday, May 7th 3-6pm: Meet the Artist
Sunday, May 7th 6pm: FOR AND AGAINST EVERYTHING – ROCKS EVERYTHING (performance)
Sunday, May 7th 6pm: End of Silent Auction
The German artist Claudia Christoffel will spend one weekend at Olfactory Art Keller where she will build sculptures from incense cones that are marketed to conjure specific future events. At the end of each day, one of the sculptures will be burned down, wreaking havoc by releasing the conjuring scents. The largest of the sculptures, consisting of 704 incense cones, will be built throughout the weekend and is auctioned off through a silent auction. Join us for the opening reception, one of the burning performances, or the artist talk.
“FOR AND AGAINST EVERYTHING brings together emotions, fears, and desires. For this work, Claudia Christoffel assembled incense from Brazil that claims to be able to influence the fate of the person who burns it. With a generous dose of good old superstition, depending on their specific scent the small cones claim to do things as different as ward off evil spirits, enhance sexual attractiveness, increase business profits, gain dominance over others, clear one’s conscience, and level the path to happiness. In this sculpture, a very direct link is created between a long tradition of invoking and entreating the divine by means of perfumed smoke or burnt sacrifice (from Egyptian cyphi to Catholic incense) and personal concerns. To an extent, the effects promised by the individual cones are color coded, with purple being more against, while red, yellow, and green are more for specific things. The harmonious-looking assemblage hides a cacophony of smells whose effects, if they did what they claim, would add up to an absurd spell for and against everything.”
Dr. Ingmar Lähnemann, curator, Städtische Galerie Bremen