Intro
Reto Pulfer: Zustandseffekte
Swiss Institute, New York
8 May–23 June 2013
Content
The enigmatic body of work by Reto Pulfer occurs at the intersection of architectural space and performance. In his first solo-exhibition in the United States, Pulfer suspended large swathes of hand-painted cloth from the ceiling structure, countering the architecture of the main gallery while exploring an ethereal environment.
Visitors entered into a mysterious sky-lit interior. The walls, enveloped in the unbleached cotton cloth, sway with movement, while dramatic pinpoints of swirling color are splayed out on the fabric-covered ceiling. This illuminated starry sky extends in a diagonal band from corner to corner across the space. The exhibition’s title, 'Zustandseffekte', roughly translated, means the effects of a phase of matter, referring to a contradictory process of both stagnation and transformation.
Pulfer innovates ancient rhetoric, deploying it as a compass for his temporary intervention. Drawing from the ancient Greek strategy of mnemonics, the artist translates thought patterns into three-dimensional form: secondhand bed sheets, Raku-ceramics, and the handmade crate in which the work is shipped are used as an extended vocabulary.
