No Ideas?

Torben Wessel reflects upon the format of showcases in their original 
function as a marketing tool. For 
this, he installs wooden replicas of
 billboards that appear in the context of train stations. In contrast to
 the high degree of attention generated by digital advertizing systems
 and changing light installations, the panels subtly blend into their
 surround
ings. The billboards are advertized through flyers and can be 
rented in expensively by local businesses. All proceeds will go towards 
the prize money of a bingo evening. In documentary photographs serving 
as a kind of placeholder, Wessel points to the recur
sive principle of
 “advertizement for advertizement” that he also pursues. The exhibition
 addresses the way in which the imperative for self
-
promotion becomes
 visible in public space and at the same time questions its role in art.
 In the exhibition Torben
 Wessel deals with processes of value generation 
following the principle of mimicry. Both in the form of presentation and 
in the language, the system of advertizing is adapted. The folding
 frames, which are otherwise industrially manufactured, are reproduce
d
 from the same wood of the display cases and show signs of use and 
damage. The discrepancy between high
-
quality printed matter and its
 whereabouts after exposure to the elements and damage to property is 
also visible in some of the photographs. Wessel adv
ertizes the
 exhibition using flyers which are aesthetically reminiscent of car
dealers' business cards. These advertizing cards, often attached to car
windows, are very present in the urban space, even if they are easily
 overlooked due to their size. A fur
ther part of the campaign for the
 rental of the exhibition spaces is the website
 www.keineideen.de
,
 developed by Wessel, where information and a price list can be viewed. 
 Considering the original purpose of adver
tizing as creating incentives
 to purchase and thereby generate money, the presumably small income
 acquired from the rental in Wessel's exhibition is raffled off in a
 game. The exhibition thus imitates and adapts classical strategies of
 value synthesis and
 at the same time short
-
circuits them. Neither the







producing artist nor the financing institution ultimately makes a
material profit. In this way, Wessel also refers to the processes of
 commodification and competition immanent in the art world. The visitors
 to the exhibition are addressed as potential customers. Likewise, the
 question of artistic authorship is raised by making the exhibition space 
and thus one's own visibility available to other actors. The principle
 of the raffle can be read as a reference 
to art prizes and scholarships,
 which provide only a few artists with financial security and thus the 
foundation for artistic work. The exhibition displayed in the showcases 
is an intersection of the project, which is a self
-
contained system
 through recurs
ive loops.
 Got no ideas? Rental of advertising space via mobile: 0163
-
19 57 58 3 /
mail:
 [email protected]
/ web:
 www.keineideen.de 
The program of the Kunstver
ein 
Harburger Bahnhof
 is made possible by the 
Ministry of Culture and Media of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, 
and the Liebelt
-
Stiftung, Hamburg.