As part of the large-scale decentralized exhibition initiative 25/25/25, the Kunststiftung NRW is marking the 25th year of its existence by bringing together 25 international artists with 25 of the federal state’s municipal museums. Selected by a group of renowned experts, the artists have been requested to develop a new work of art out of their encounter with the collection of the respective museum. This portrait shall then pass into the collection of the museum. The Ludwig Forum Aachen is one of the selected museums.
The British artist Michael Dean has created the installation HA HA HA HA HA HA for the Ludwig Forum. He lined the floor of a room with light-colored MDF panels and positioned a chair in the middle. On the chair is a book and on the book stands a sculpture. The book shows a graphic representation of a tongue in an infinite sequence. Correspondingly, 24 tongues cast in concrete and painted black are fixed to the walls. Michael Dean’s works seek to establish a direct connection to the human body. They often emerge out an extensive preoccupation with language and its translation into pictorial form and sculpture. Visitors are able to walk through the installation, touch the sculpture on the chair, and even tear out pages from the book and take them with them.
Dr. Barbara Könches (Idee und Leitung 25/25/25), Kunststiftung NRW
Stephanie Seidel (Curator 25/25/25), Kunststiftung NRW
Esther Boehle (Curator), Ludwig Forum Aachen
Michael Dean, Installation Views
