Kunstmuseum Basel, Vortragssaal
St. Alban-Graben 8
Germaine Kruip employs simple geometric shapes, such as circles, squares, and diamonds, in order to explore the relationship between art and ritual in repetitive gestures that subtly alter perception. By emphasizing the gestural and physical origins of abstractions, she questions whether absolute abstraction is possible at all.
Presented in the Vortragssaal at the Kunstmuseum Basel, Kruip’s site-specific light installation Diamond consists of a luminous lozenge floating in space. It is pure aura, never culminating in an object – an optical illusion. The appearance of the floating and changing shape is neither a film nor a projection: The light-sculpture is perceived, as if an abstract film is being created in the moment itself, as a ‘live-act.’ Recalling para-cinema, this process simulates how our brain interprets a shape formed by light and shadow to create a filmic illusion, without celluloid or a camera. The capturing happens within the eye of the audience. This collective moment lost in a gaze was described by art critic Jonathan Crary as ‘represent[ing] one of the last remaining zones of dissidence, of antiproductivity and even of solidarity’.
Presented with additional support of Gallery Baton, Seoul Generously supported by the Mondriaan Fund
