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09 2001

Wohnwelten: Fortuyn/O'Brian - Laura Kikua - Pia Lanzinger

Press conference, 16 October 2001 at 5pm

You are invited to attend a press conference on Tuesday, 16 October 2001 at 5pm in the Galeriahaus, Lehrer-Wirth-Strasse 17, in Messestadt Riem to mark the beginning of Phase Two of the artistic activities undertaken in connection with kunstprojekte_riem's theme this year, 'Wohnwelten' (residential worlds). On 16 October 2001 we will be presenting two large-scale installations by Fortuyn/O'Brien and Laura Kikauka respectively and a video by Pia Lanzinger. The artists will be present.

These projects address in artistic terms the nature of domestic environments as mirrors of personality, lifestyle and social reality. They abolish the distinction between private and public realms by allowing outsiders to view intimate surroundings, examining in this way both the individual and the representative character of domestic spaces. The artists either create new 'Wohnwelten' on the basis of actual buildings in Messestadt or they incorporate the existing 'Wohnwelten' of local residents in their projects.

In the first phase of her 'Dolls' Housing', carried out in June 2001, Fortuyn/O'Brien (born in 1959 in Geldrop, Netherlands) constructed wooden models of Messestadt homes at a scale of 1:12. In a series of workshops she invited children of kindergarten age to decorate and furnish these 'doll's houses'. Now, in the second phase of the project, she has transferred the results back to the adult world by reconstructing in detail the children's decoration and furnishing of the houses as a full-scale installation in a Messestadt home.

Laura Kikauka, who was born in Hamilton, Canada, in 1963, likes to call herself a professional modeller. She has furnished and decorated a newly built domestic environment in Messestadt with a wide variety of objects and materials. This 'dream home' is a colourful microcosm that provides an ironically witty commentary on the customary use of the rooms and reveals the inherent absurdity of certain aesthetic conventions. In October Kikauka will be opening her almost surreal Messestadt realm to the public.

In 'So wohnen wir' (This is how we live) Pia Lanzinger, who was born in Munich in 1960, has encouraged communication among Messestadt residents at a domestic level. She talked to them to find out why they chose a particular type of home, how they cope with specific furnishing problems and how they decide matters of taste. In a series of tours occupants showed their homes to their neighbours, laying the foundations for increased personal acquaintance. Lanzinger recorded these encounters and will be showing a first version of the resulting video at the opening.

We look forward to seeing you. Please fill in the enclosed form and fax it to us. For further information, please phone 0049 (0) 89-94379849.

place
Munich, Messestadt Riem
Fortuyn/O'Brien: Lehrer-Wirth-Strasse 22
Laura Kikauka: Elisabeth-Dane-Strasse 58, 1st floor
Pia Lanzinger: Galeriahaus, Lehrer-Wirth-Strasse 17
time
16 October to 18 November 2001
hours
Tues. - Fri. 4 - 8pm, Sat. - Sun. 2 - 6pm, admission free
opening
16 October 2001 at 7pm, Galeriahaus, Lehrer-Wirth-Strasse 17
press conference
16 October 2001 at 5pm, Galeriahaus, Lehrer-Wirth-Strasse 17,
followed by a visit to the various venues
information
kunstprojekte_riem
Dr Claudia Büttner and Christina Kaufmann
Paul-Henri-Spaak-Strasse 5, 81829 Munich
tel. 0049 (0) 89-94379849, fax 0049 (0) 89-94379845
e-mail: kunstprojekte.riem@ems.muenchen.de