For his first solo exhibition in Berlin, the young Danish-born artist Jeppe Hein presents a work in simple but effective dialogue with the traditions of Minimalist sculpture and the witty and self-conscious mode of institutional critique. Hein's project consists of a metal sphere, approximately thirty inches in diameter, which moves freely about the spaces of the gallery: Sensors set it in motion whenever someone enters. As if due to inertia, the sphere's movement is rather slow, but also unpredictable and nonlinear—it strikes visitors, bumps into the wall, stops for a bit and then starts again unexpectedly, depending on the type of stimulus it receives. Thus the public provokes a reaction but cannot truly control it. For the object itself, there's no longer the possibility of stability: particularly within the context of a crowded opening, it becomes one of many elements in motion, interrogating the relationships between work and viewer, at play with the contemporary demand for a flexible and dynamic space. As in his other work—which is often located at the intersection of architecture and sculpture—Hein has presented a device that exists only in relationship to the spectator or other works in the show, and which strikes a curious balance between interaction and disturbance, dialogue and annoyance. Here Pistoletto's sphere of newspapers comes to mind, along with its social and political message; one also thinks of Gabriel Orozco's sphere that rolled through the streets, lightly picking up all kinds of rubbish. Hein's sphere recalls even more a game of magic, or a moment from Rollerball, or a children's game, enlarged; minimalism in motion, now rather more fun and democratic.
Author: Luca Cerizza
Translated from Italian by Marguerite Shore
Jeppe Hein
1974 born in Copenhagen, Denmark
Lives and works in Berlin, Germany
Jeppe Hein
Johann Koenig
Dessauer Str. 6-7
10963 Berlin
Germany
