EXCLUSIVITIES–EXKLUSIVITÄTEN

Zuzanna Czebatul covers the M.1 with a scaffolding tarp. The building is closed off to the outside, while the exhibition opens up into the public space and is always accessible; thus asking what happens to art when it is no longer perceived in frames and on plinths, but as a very ordinary construction site. If Czebatul's work suggests replacing the institution into a state of transition by covering its building, what does this change imply for the perception of the institution itself? Conceived for EXCLUSIVITIES–EXKLUSIVITÄTEN, the work THE JOY OF BEING THE CAUSE highlights the M.1 as an exemplary model for private art foundations. By covering the building, the work breaks with a supposed transparency; no one can look directly into the foundation’s exhibition space any more. At the same time, this insight is covered by what is already underneath: The outlines of the house are repeated on the tarpaulin. This almost comic-like tracing raises the building to a fictional, narrative level. This raises the question of how the story of an institution is told – and to whom it is addressed. THE JOY OF BEING THE CAUSE points to an institutional agenda that is always up for debate; to the future goals pursued by art institutions as well as to their original rationale and condition for pursuing a public mission. Between these poles, the work stretches out like a net that denies insights and at the same time makes new views possible. Private art institutions are involved in political and social processes from which a public interest emanates. Czebatul’s work at M.1 thus shows exemplarily what makes institutional exhibition spaces exclusive: the personal signature of individuals in relation to the participation possibilities of many. In this sense, the M.1 is not only wrapped up, but entangled in the relationships it represents. The architecture becomes a canvas – but who or what does it actually represent? Zuzanna Czebatul (born 1986 in Międzyrzecz, Poland) lives and works in Berlin. As a sculptor, she deals with questions of power and the interplay of economic, political and social interests. She studied at Städelschule Frankfurt am Main and at Hunter College New York. Czebatul has had solo exhibitions at Kunstpalais Erlangen (2021); CAC Synagogue de Delme (2020); Sans titre (2016), Paris (2020); GGM1 Municipal Gallery, Gdańsk (2019) and FUTURA Center for Contemporary Art, Prague (2018), among others. EXCLUSIVITIES–EXKLUSIVITÄTEN is the second project cycle in Agnieszka Roguski’s IN:VISIBILITIES programme series. Together with a discourse programme of podcasts and workshops, it deals with questions of exclusivity within a society whose medial confines are becoming increasingly hybrid, while social, cultural and economic borders are gaining in importance.