THE GREAT GAME TO COME
May 14 – May 21, 2008
Steinernes Haus am Römerberg,
Markt 44, 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
phone: +49.69.219314-0
fax: +49.69.219314-11
post [at] fkv.de
THE GREAT GAME TO COME
May 14 – May 21, 2008
Opening: May 13, 2008, 7 pm
Finissage: May 21, 2008, 3 pm
Following two historical projects from the 1960s and 1970s – one by the artist Palle Nielsen (Denmark) and the other by a group of students from the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach around Thomas Bayrle, Wolfgang Schmidt, Linette Schönegge, Regina Henze and Karin Günther-Thoma – the Frankfurter Kunstverein will be transformed into a playground during one week in May. The idea, an initiative of Chus Martínez, Tobi Maier and Katja Schroeder, will be realized with the help of the artists Palle Nielsen, Thomas Bayrle and groups of students from Städelschule in Frankfurt and the art academy in Copenhagen, supported by their professors Nils Norman (Copenhagen) and Tobias Rehberger (Frankfurt).
In October 1968 the Danish artist Palle Nielsen installed a huge adventure playground at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, called The Model for a Qualitative Society. For three weeks the kids were the active subjects in the exhibition space, and their free play epitomized freedom and creativity. The second project that serves as a reference took place on the grounds of the Frankfurt fair in 1971 and was initiated by a group of students from the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach around Thomas Bayrle, Wolfgang Schmidt, Linette Schönegge, Regina Henze and Karin Günther-Thoma. Similar to Nielsen’s adventure playground the group turned the main exhibition venue of the fairground in Frankfurt into a “Kinderplanet”, a planet for children.
Both of these historical projects pose elemental questions: which kind of social space can art produce? How does a community of players, visitors and other citizens constitute itself? What space is available for community activities in contemporary society? With these questions in mind the Frankfurter Kunstverein will, during one week, turn into a huge playground and space for experimentation. We open our doors to all children, adolescents and adults and encourage them to participate actively in the process of developing and experimenting their environment. The ground for experimentation will be prepared by groups of students from the Städelschule in Frankfurt and the art academy in Copenhagen. They are supported by their professors Nils Norman (Copenhagen) and Tobias Rehberger (Frankfurt) as well as by the artists Palle Nielsen und Thomas Bayrle themselves.
In addition to helping develop the playground for ‘The Great Game to Come’ the team of Umwelt-Exploratorium (UX e.V.) is going to be present during the week and offer workshops for students at the Kunstverein. Together they will develop a huge floating solar powered balloon. UX e.V. is a charitable association based in Frankfurt which was founded by former students from the product design department of Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach. Their aim is to work with current tendencies in our environment and society and to illustrate their transformations through collaborative projects.
The project is a cooperation between the Frankfurter Kunstverein, Staatlichen Hochschule für Bildende Künste – Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art, School of Visual Arts
in Copenhagen.
The ‘Great Game to Come’ is kindly supported by:
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, The School of Visual Arts, Copenhagen
Partner of the project:
Montana Furnitures A/S
PROJECT INITIATED BY: Chus Martínez (Director, Frankfurter Kunstverein), Tobi Maier and Katja Schroeder (Curators, Frankfurter Kunstverein)
OPENING HOURS: Tuesday, 13, opening, 7 pm; Wednesday, 14 – Tuesday, 20, from 11 am -7 pm; Wednesday, 21, 11 am – 3 pm (Finnissage starts at 3 pm)
ENTRANCE: free
INFORMATION: www.fkv.de
PRESS CONTACT: Julia Wittwer, Melanie Räuschel, phone: +49.69.219314–30/-40,
fax: +49.69.219314–11, e-mail: presse@fkv.de , www.fkv.de
