The Archiv Charlotte Posenenske ends its three-part exhibition series Charlotte Posenenske B / C / D / DW / E – Schöne neue Plastik with Reliefs of the Series E. Visitors of the Archive get the opportunity to experience the concept of Posenenskes series, as well as her artistic development.

Small E Series Revolving Vane

When closed, this Small E Series Revolving Vane forms a cube with a side length of 100 cm. The cube consists of a frame in which the four square “doors” can rotate. The frame is composed of a the square frame (100 x 100 cm) made from square steel tubing, laid out on the floor. At its corners are four vertical tubes onto which the four side panels, the “doors”, are attached. These tubes form the axes around which the “doors” can be revolved. When the “doors” are attached to the tubes, a congruent (100 x 100 cm) upper square frame is attached and screwed into place. (If the cube is not set up on a perfectly even floor, there is a risk that the “doors” may catch.) The object, a series-produced item, is spray painted locker gray. The prototype of the large, 200 cm-high revolving vane made of the same material (now at the Museum Ludwig, Cologne) and the prototype of the small revolving vane (now at the MCA, Chicago) were exhibited together in 1968 at the Frankfurt gallery Dorothea Loehr. The crucial difference is that the small version is not accessible. For this reason, I believe it was built before the two walk-in revolving vane objects (the prototype of the cubic particle-board revolving vane is now at the Tate Modern in London). A second key difference is that the dimensions of the small revolving vane still reference the original meter, praise in passing of the objective unit of measurement. The two large revolving vane objects in contrast, with a door height of 190 or 200 cm, are rather more oriented on people, who walk into them. On the artist’s consistent path from surface to space, from image to architecture, there is something like a border between the small and large revolving vanes: Like the reliefs of the B Series, also with a height of 100 cm, the small revolving vane can still be counted as sculpture, whereas the large model (like the large square tube installations) can no doubt be classed as architecture owing to its dimensions and accessibility. These references to two different scales (the original meter and the human scale) coexist in Charlotte Posenenske’s art. In terms of the problem of objective composition and its subjective perception depending on the incidence of light and the observer’s movements, the reliefs can be associated with Minimal Art. Yet the audience does not just walk around the small revolving vane observing it, but actively intervene, modifying the object of art by turning the “doors” and in so doing also changing the subjective appearance of the surfaces themselves. The object is variable and – similar to installations of Posenenske’s Square Tubes - as such essentially never “finished”. The production of the authorised reconstructions ends with the decease of the administrator of the estate.

Large E Series Revolving Vane

The Large E Series Revolving Vane (of which the prototype can be found at the Museum Ludwig, Cologne) consists of six door-sized (95 x 190 cm) panels made of sheet aluminum, spray painted locker gray, rotating on three axes in the corners of a triangular equilateral floor frame (200 x 200 x 200 cm) and a congruent upper top frame. The variability of the square tubes in the D and DW Series is, thanks to the different possible combinations that can be taken, continued here in the different position of the vanes, which viewers can move. The audience, which practically remained viewers during the assembly of the square tubes (although the concept envisages their participation), here become the actors as a matter of course. And that is the idea: the formerly passive viewer, whose activity was limited to imagining and thinking when before a painting, now acts physically. The object’s mutability means as an artwork it is in principle never complete. (This is in line with the fact that any square tube installation can be continued at will.) Unlike the floor panels by Carl Andre across which the audience walks without noticing they are treading on an artwork, moving the revolving vanes is a conscious act. Members of the audience know that they are entering an artwork. This breaks the taboo that art cannot be touched. The revolving vane object can be completely closed and then forms a standing prism. In this way a space is created within the space, and an inside and outside, meaning two diametrically opposed situations. It thus addresses a key theme in architecture. Unlike the small revolving vane, the large one cannot only be used, but also stepped into, meaning directly related to people. (The large revolving vane first went on show in 1968 in avant-garde Frankfurt gallery Dorothea Loehr.) The production of the authorised reconstructions ends with the decease of the administrator of the estate.

–Burkhard Brunn