Syövest 2017

safety jackets, fiberglass and steel wire

When colored nylons bound together are tightly pulled apart in front of the facade of a historic building (Monument to Örebro) or between four walls in a gallery (Nylons in Space), basic garments suddenly take on a graphic meaning that leaves you as a spectator sort of defeated; everyday items of clothes suddenly appear to acquire a special meaning. This certainly applies to her contribution ‘Syövest’. A colorful cloud appears over public space consisting of an ingenious form of wafer-thin yellow vests. Moving in the wind and reflecting, as originally intended, within the lighting of the indoors or preferably outdoors environment.

Ulrike Kessl experiments with garments, tights, vests, and even lightweight camping tents. By combining and rehearsing them, the basic forms acquire new meaning as sculptural objects interacting with the space in which displayed. She has her own artistic language, constantly developing materials and techniques based on the characteristics of the respective exhibition space. These works cannot clearly be categorized into a conventional genre, not as an installation neither as a sculpture nor as a site-specific work. Ulrike Kessl’s work is unique in its kind.

Ulrike Kessl, born in Rottweil in 1962, is a German object and installation artist.