08 Oct 2010

Other Sights for Artists' Projects: Köbberling and Kaltwasser

The Games are Open takes the form of a larger-than-life bulldozer - with shovel down, it faces the expanse of interim lands awaiting future development along Vancouver's South East False Creek. Left as evidence of 9 weeks of inspired labour, artist team Köbberling & Kaltwasser constructed the artwork from 1,000 wheat board panels liberated from the neighbouring 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Athletes' Village. The site, form and material invite re-invention.

Typically used as a substrate for interior finishings, the wheat board, a new, 'environmentally friendly' material composed of 94% wheat and 6% neutral binder, has been elevated to assume a structural role in the depiction of a machine usually associated with fast and drastic change. Exposed to weather, soil, and the passing of time, the wheat board construction will give way to a process of gradual decomposition, its form providing fodder for new growth. Transitioning slowly from sculpture to plant nursery, the project's bounty will be offered for transplanting throughout the future development. Subject to economic, biological and social forces, The Games are Open excites the public imaginary, offering up new possibilities and alternative uses.

Folke Köbberling & Martin Kaltwasser create situations that encourage the participation of diverse publics. Their work uses informal methods to make visible the transformation of begged, borrowed, donated, salvaged, and found materials into publicly used objects and spaces. They have exhibited extensively in Germany and internationally and were included in the 2009 Architecture Biennial in Sao Paulo and in the 2010 Poznan Biennial in Poland. Recent solo exhibitions include Power Plant/Chinati Foundation, Marfa; Galerie Anselm Dreher, Berlin; Ujadowski Castle CSW, Warsaw/PL; Architekturgalerie am Weißenhof, Stuttgart; Artforum Berlin; Lothringer 13/Laden, Munich; Simultanhalle, Cologne; and Shedhalle, Zurich. Recent works for public spaces include The Jellyfish Theatre in London's city centre, Cars into Bicycles at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, California, and Trash Circulated at the Werkleitz Festival in Halle, Germany.

Presented by Other Sights for Artists' Projects. The Games are Open is curated by Barbara Cole and is the second project of When the Hosts Come Home, a series of artists' works that address issues of sustainability in the development of South East False Creek.

Other Sights gratefully acknowledges the support of the British Columbia Arts Council, City of Vancouver Cultural Services, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Langara College Centre for Art in Public Spaces, Millennium Development Group, The Canada Council for the Arts, and the Vancouver Foundation.