29 May–3 August 2014

Andreas Angelidakis: Crash Pad

26.1.–3.8.2014, every Sat & Sun, 2–6 pm, admission free

Opening: Sat, 25.1.2014, 2 pm

25.1.2014, 3 pm: Andreas Angelidakis in conversation with 

Juan A. Gaitán

Venue: KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Auguststraße 69, 10117 Berlin,  front house

Crash Pad by Andreas Angelidakis is the first commissioned work of the 8th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art. The room installation opens on January 25, 2014, as a preliminary statement of the 8th Berlin Biennale.

With Crash Pad Angelidakis creates a multi-purpose room with a library in the front building of KW Institute for Contemporary Art, drawing upon the idea of the 19th century salon as a setting for cultural and political conversations. The room is formed by an arrangement of ancient and folkloric rugs handmade in the Greek countryside, displaying a transitional iconography from an Ottoman to a European tradition, together with a set of columns. The carpets and the columns represent the two conflicting systems that modernized Greece in the 19th century: The Europeanized Greek diaspora (educated in Germany, France and England and influenced by the invention of antiquity there), and the peasant guerrilla fighters under general Theodoros Kolokotronis.

Crash Pad also refers to the first bankruptcy of modern Greece in 1893, which followed soon after liberation, essentially because the Europeanized Greek diaspora tried to keep the folk fighters out. These conflicting systems led to a series of failed governments and economic crises which brought about a predecessor of the International Monetary Fund, which was put in place by France, England and Germany in order to supervise the debt of Greece.

Crash Pad offers a space for events, discussion and exchange within the 8th Berlin Biennale, as well as a place for contemplation and exchange for the traveling artists arriving at KW: A domesticated ruin and a thank-you note from a Norwegian-Greek architect to the German idea of antiquity.

Andreas Angelidakis (born in 1968 in Athens, Greece) is a Norwegian-Greek artist and architect. His work includes exhibitions such as "Group Mountain" (also including a curatorial contribution, The Breeder, Athens, 2013), "PAOLA", (curated by Andreas Angelidakis, The Breeder, Athens, 2013), "MADEINATHENS" (13th Venice Biennial of Architecture, Greek Pavilion, 2012), "Domesticated Mountain" (Gloria Maria Gallery, Milan, 2012), "Somewhere Else" (Espace Louis Vuitton, Paris, 2011), "Politics of Art" (National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, 2010), "The Angelo Foundation Headquarters” (in collaboration with artist Angelo Plessas, Jeu de Paume, museum espace virtuelle, 2009) and "Blue Wave” 

(MU Foundation, Eindhoven, 2005).

He created exhibition architectures for "System of Objects" (also curated by Andreas Angelidakis, DESTE Foundation, Athens, 2013), "Frieze Projects" (also graphic design, London, 2013), 3rd Thessaloniki Biennial (Thessaloniki, 2012), "Modelos para Armar" (MUSAC, León, 2011), and 2nd Athens Biennial (Athens, 2009).

On occasion of the installation opening on January 25, 2014, at 3 pm, there will be a public conversation with Andreas Angelidakis and Juan A. Gaitán, curator of the 8th Berlin Biennale.

Andreas Angelidakis: Crash Pad is supported by the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA).

The 8th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art will bring together a range of local and international artistic positions that explore the intersection between larger historical narratives and individuals' lives. Thus, the 8th Berlin Biennale aims to counterpoise the empirical and the authoritative approaches to history and historical becoming. The research for the 8th Berlin Biennale is structured along three speculative approaches toward the city of Berlin: in its relationship to the built environment, in its relationship to citizenship, and in its relationship to labor. Another focus lies on ways in which the 18th and 19th century Berlin is contemplated within our current cultural landscape. The 8th Berlin Biennale will open its doors to the public on May 28, 2014.

> via berlinbiennale.de