Figures built of jute bags and scrap sit against the walls in this exhibition of Birke Gorm’s sculptures at the MAK museum. Yet they still take us on a journey into both the past and the sociopolitics of gender roles.
- Nine main figures
- Metaphors and layers of interpretation abound
- Runs Feb 1 to Jun 25, 2023
- See also
dead stock
(MAK Exhibition View, 2023, BIRKE GORM: dead stock, MAK Gallery; press photo © kunst-dokumentation.com/MAK)
Contemporary art is largely uncharted territory for me. But one of the joys of exploring the output of today’s artists is discovering the themes and messages that lie behind works that may not reveal their secrets through casual inspection.
Thought is often required (a terrifying prospect at my age, but strangely energising, too).
Anyway, the dead stock exhibition at the MAK features sculptures by the Hamburg-born artist, Birke Gorm, who now wields her artistic skills in Vienna. With considerable success, as evidenced by a 2020 Strabag Art Award.
Gorm’s installation confronts us with anthropomorphic figures constructed largely from jute bags.
We also see smaller sculptures, built from scrap metal and wired up to bulbs that serve as the exhibition’s light source.
Viewed from a distance in that low light, you gain the impression of workers at the end of a shift, perhaps at a 19th-century cotton mill.
The figures themselves sit with arms crossed. Observant? Protective? Defiant? The presentation certainly invites different interpretations.
(MAK Exhibition View, 2023, BIRKE GORM: dead stock, MAK Gallery; press photo © kunst-dokumentation.com/MAK)
The materials used, for example, are those often found discarded as valueless. Russet rebars from broken concrete might serve as feet. Perhaps an old set of pliers or a scythe as hands. Knitted slivers of newspaper as stuffing.
Thus we have a layer of environmentalism concerning themes such as recycling and resource use.
Collecting leftovers and putting them to good use also harks back to the days when (mostly) women would follow the harvesters and “glean” what was left behind. As such, the figures invite us to reconsider the worth of abandoned materials.
Equally, that same concept hints at the undervalued (and unpaid) domestic work traditionally carried out through history by women, also through their role in giving new life to old material.
This patriarchal gender hierarchy gains added resonance through the figures’ bag heads and pockets. Such accessories were long limited to men and served as both a physical and conceptual expression of their privileged position.
(Jute itself also carries the weight of sociopolitical history, given the trade in the fibre associated with the “activities” of the British Empire in places such as Bengal.)
As such, the installation deserves time to contemplate. So, yes, thought is required.
Dates, tickets & tips
Enjoy Birke Gorm’s transformations of scrap material from February 1st to June 25th, 2023. Any entrance ticket for or from the MAK includes access.
Although the MAK’s focus remains on design, the museum’s special exhibitions inevitably and often merge with contemporary art.
Pop into the MAK Forum part of the building, for example, to see a fascinating, multisensory installation by Sonja Bäumel for much of the same period as the Birke Gorm exhibition.
Two lovely (and largely concurrent) MAK “design” exhibitions are THE FEST and FOLDS, both also including works by contemporary artists.
How to get there
Check the travel tips on the main MAK page. Drop down to the Design Lab level and go right to find the gallery room that hosts Birke Gorm’s works.
Address: Stubenring 5, 1010 Vienna