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[May 22nd 2003]
Interview
Jeppe Hein: Changing
Space (2003)
Interview with Jeppe Hein
kopenhagen met Jeppe Hein (1974) to have a chat about his
exhibition at Galleri Nicolai Wallner. His work is minimalist, the
ideas stripped of unnecessary noise and presented in their purest
form, invitingly clear for the viewer. The pieces aren’t difficult
to understand, distancing the artist from the conceptual minimalism
of the ‘60s and ‘70s. The viewer plays an active role
in the piece, which is important for the piece to realise its potential
– a collaborative process involving the artist and the public.
The object and the subject trade roles. With this series it isn’t
the viewer that invites the work into an art experience, as with
a painting, here it’s Jeppe Hein’s work that invites,
or reacts to the viewers presence in the room. When entering the
gallery space at Nicolai Wallner, the viewer is forced to
experience the room itself, to contemplate their own position in
the room, in order to experience the full, simple effect of Hein’s
practice.
Hein lives in Berlin, he’s collaborated with Olafur Eliasson
and studied for three semesters in Frankfurt at the Städel
- Hochschule für Bildende Kunste, 1999-2000, while registered
as an associate student at the Royal Danish Academy of Art, 1997-2003.
This summer Hein will take part in the Venice Biennial with his
Water Pavillion, which has previously been seen in Munich. Interview:
Iben Overgaard Photo: www.nicolaiwallner.com, Laura
Stamer and Iben Overgaard Translation: David Duchin
presenting / representing
Jeppe Hein
2 May — 28 June 2003
Galleri Nicolai Wallner
Njalsgade 21, building 15, Copenhagen S
Tel: +4532570970
Fax: +4532570971
nw@nicolaiwallner.com
www.nicolaiwallner.com
Jeppe Hein
You’ve been looking forward to having a show
here in Copenhagen at Galleri Nikolai Wallner.
Yes – it’s always been one of my big goals to exhibit
at Wallner, ever since he started his own gallery. Last year, when
I had an exhibition at Galleri Johann König in Berlin, Johan
arranged a meeting for me with Nicolai, who was down there to see
the show.
I’ve been wanting to show the home public what I’ve been
up to, but I’ve only ever exhibited abroad. Now people can
come in and see my work in person, instead of seeing and hearing
about in via other media.
You’ve created a show that involves the entire gallery; what
have you created, and why?
It was a long process, figuring out exactly what I wanted to
do with these rooms, and I went through many ideas. This is the
first time I’ve chosen to show the actual process.
Jeppe Hein: sketches
Along the Project Room’s one wall I’ve hung 44 sketches
of all my ideas and thoughts about what I could create in the space.
The other wall shows what I chose to create in the end. With this
exhibition I’ve been thinking about the gallery’s situation,
and how it presents and represents art. How artists can go into
an exhibition space and use it to stage their art. My job has been
to find out how I, with the room as frame, can make my work function
best, while maintaining a relationship with the room itself. I chose
to take my sketches along because they communicate the reduction
process that led to the exhibition.
  
  
Jeppe Hein: sketches
I’ve trimmed back the ideas until almost nothing was
left. Even the invitation is nothing – only the obligatory
text, with a twist, in that it’s a mirror image. So to read
the text there has to be something done, like holding it up to the
light, in order to make it make sense. It’s a transformation
of the expected which can puzzle, and capture attention.
 
 
Jeppe Hein: Changing Space (2003)
In the large room I’ve made a new wall which is in constant
movement – Changing Space (2003). Over 25 minutes, the
wall moves five metres, from the middle of the room toward the end
wall, until the room is only a half metre wide. I wanted to play
with the experience of the room. After being in the room only a
short time, you’ll notice that the room has gotten smaller.
There’s nothing else in the room besides this dynamic wall;
apart from the wall, the room is bare. The wall isn’t a critique
of the institution, it’s more an investigation of the room’s
premise as a gallery and the role of the artist.
 
Jeppe Hein: In between
(2002)
Out in the corridor, at the end, I’ve hung In Between
(2002). It’s a frame with a blank piece of paper. Over the
course of 55 minutes, the paper moves along the entire length of
the bottom section of the frame. Again I am playing with the relationship
with the public. I want to show that the work isn’t anything
on its own, it’s only what the public informs it with. Your
role brings the piece into the centre of attention. The public can
walk quickly by the piece without noticing a thing, never understanding
what was happening. This illustrates the viewer’s distance
from the art; the manner in which they observe the piece.
Jeppe Hein: No Presence (2003)
From the corridor you make your way into the office, where we hung
No Presence (2003). It’s an object with a coloured light
and a sensor built in that makes the light go out when anyone enters
the office. I hope the public catches this, so they’ll stop
and wonder what’s going on. That the piece becomes a kind of
eye opener for what’s actually going on in the exhibition.
At the same time, it’s also the exhibition’s only ‘proper’,
sellable object, which illustrates the fact this is anything but
a commercial exhibition. It’s hidden away in the office, the
last place you see. In this way the exhibition dismisses the object
character of the contemporary scene.
It’s a very subtle, super simple exhibition.
I didn’t want to make some huge piece that just barrels
forward. It is an exhibition that, with the help of reflection,
will seem strong, but which at first glance might disappoint.
Despite the minimalist expression, these are pieces that have
to be sensed.
Exactly, and that’s why it’s so difficult to explain
what’s happening in my work. But it’s pretty damn strange
to be in a gallery space that’s only two metres wide. Nikolai
told me that he goes in there a lot so he can feel how the room,
which he used to know so well, has changed. Now, I’m pretty
excited to hear what people have to say about this exhibition, and
whether they catch on to what’s going on; it will say a lot
about them.
More....
http://www.dynamoeintracht.de/jeppehein.htm
http://www.artist-kunstmagazin.de/ausgaben/heft51_24.html
http://www.cca.rca.ac.uk/2003/pages/artistpages/heinpage.html
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