Ivo Gretener
"There's only Rumors, nothing's decided,—"
May 5th - 25th 2012
Opening: May 5th 2012 at 7 pm
Finissage: May 25th 2012 at 7 pm
Ivo Gretener’s specifically for the project space Enblanco developed installation plays with transgressions between inside and outside space, public realm and private sphere, art context and domestic space.
A combination of obscured and blocked out view and a suggestive soundtrack creates an ambiguous scenario that turns away from the spectator who, uninvited to join, remains eavesdropper and outsider. Whether one approaches out of curiosity and because that is what you do in an exhibition space, listens amusedly and tries to snatch a glimpse or backs off out of embarrassment or disinterest, both expresses the expectation – disappointed or satisfied – that in the non-visible interior something potentially interesting could be happening.
Conceptually this installation is not only about a possible discrepancy between public and private space, but also about the doubling up of one interior space in another, of placing outside architecture into an indoor space, and the restrictive situation of placing a big object in a relatively small room. It is impossible to step back and look at the whole thing, only the detail is visible, only a section. To distance oneself physically the spectator needs to leave the building, but from the outside, again, one sees nothing but an excerpt – now framed by the window. The constrictions of the space also make sure that every spectator is always already part of the scene for the next one who enters.
As soon as several people are in the same room for a time, groups develop and with this – in this case in particular as soon as the soundtrack is taken in and interpreted by the individuals – everyone becomes an insider, there is mutual recognition, everyone is in the same situation of eavesdropper and some kind of complicity or cognizance emerges. Nonetheless the own motive or position is unclear to the others – only through a public reaction or a comment does one classify oneself and one’s opinion for them.
The individual reaction may be the immediate expression of an opinion but also expresses how knowledgeable or unaware the person in question feels towards the exhibited art. Thus Ivo Gretener’s installation functions not only as an investigation of different concepts of space and social spheres but also as a showcase for human behaviour when in company.
