autoR / Carsten Nicolai / Temporäre Kunsthalle

Photo by Benjamin Pritzkuleit © Carsten Nicolai, Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin

In the center of Berlin, an amazing institution known as the Temporäre Kunsthalle is a great venue for contemporary art as exhibits are housed not only within Adolf Krischanitz’s free plan interior, but also on the exterior. As each new artist brings his own personality to the building’s exterior, the 11 meter high building, which covers a ground surface of 20 by 56.25 meters, becomes the artist’s blank canvas, patiently waiting for its new treatment. The most recent exterior exhibition, autoR by Carsten Nicolai, is the third project to be realized on the façade.

More images and more about the exhibit after the break.

Photo: René Zieger © Carsten Nicolai, Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin

Conceived as a self-organizing process, visitors can contribute to the design by applying Nicolai’s stickers, a geometric shape produced in seven colors. To prepare the exterior for Nicolai’s exhibit, the building’s exterior of fiber-cement panels will be covered with sheets of white PVC. This emptiness represents a “zero state - a space of possibility.”

Photo by Benjamin Pritzkuleit © Carsten Nicolai, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2010

Starting in June and running through August, visitors are able to apply the stickers to the surface. There are even aerial work platforms available to aid visitors wishing to place their stickers at the top of the building. “The result is a permanently changing facade whose appearance is shaped by a dynamic, interactive process that is open to all visitors.”

Photo: René Zieger © Carsten Nicolai, Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin

The installation’s title, autoR, is a perfect fit for the project. Derived from the Greek “auto”, which means founded on itself, the exhibition title becomes “author” with the addition of the letter ‘r’. The visitor truly becomes the author as his personal decision becomes the catalyst for this interactive design.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“By focusing in my work on self-organizing processes, I wish to explore the potential of randomness and errors while retaining control to the extent that I can organize them and initiate creative processes. Many of my works rely on a specific rule and have the character of models. The model serves as an ordering principle that facilitates the identification of chaotic movements. I am interested in both – chaos and order – and they lie incredibly close to one another,” explained Carsten Nicolai.