»What is the good of moving if a person could travel so wonderfully sitting in a chair?«
Duc des Esseintes, the main character of Karl Huysmanns’ Against Nature
In the process of creating new contours of the Frankfurter Kunstverein, to establish it as an institution that emphasises notions of interaction and publicness, it was decided to give new form to the café. The task was given to two artists, Gorka Eizagirre (*1971) and Xavier Salaberría (*1969), both from Spain, who have previously worked together on similar projects. Together they have developed a project aimed at improving the public domain of the house: by emphasising the connections between contemporary artistic practice and everyday life, they have created an environment that goes beyond the artistic gesture and functions as a café.
The focus of the works of Xavier Salaberría is the relationship between material, use and the ‘meaning’ of design. A true believer in he logic of ‘use’, Salaberría is concerned with understanding the interactions between people and things in contemporary society. We are inundated with advice on what to do, what to buy, what to use, but we hear only few good arguments as to why. The questions Salaberría raises and investigates about our relationship with objects, may in modest ways contribute to a better understanding of our real needs.
Gorka Eizagirre concentrates more on notions of space and our understanding of colour and graphics. Questions that he concerns himself with in his work are, for example: What is natural and what is artificial? And how do these domains relate inside a given architecture – such as the Frankfurter Kunstverein – and in the core of a city like Frankfurt?
The process of creating the new café was a challenging one involving many players with different expectations. As a result of this, the plans changed a lot during the process of realisation, which was both exciting and enlightening. The actual realised space of the Café does not, however, represent a finished form. It is still open for modification and will be changed through the ways in which people use it.
You have the possibility to rent the café for your events. Please contact Katja Schroeder for further information schroeder@fkv.de
