Ein lebendiger Gartenzwerg in Bad Ems Ondrej Brody & Krisofer Paetau

The premier exhibition of AC Institute’s FLAT OUT project

September 8 – September 21, 2011 Opening Event: Thursday, September 8, 2011 6-8pm

Exhibitions are free and open to the public.

Ondrej Brody & Krisofer Paetau: Ein lebendiger Gartenzwerg in Bad Ems

Brody & Paetau haunt for grotesque aspects of both institutionalized art world and the very phenomena of art production itself. Their strategy is obvious and almost embarrassing in its literacy and straightforwardness but that is their strongest aspect. The investigation is always and first of all in regards to the psychology of behavior as influenced or provoked by the external aspects of life and politics. Oscillating between use and abuse, advanced manipulation and cold untouchable registration of absurd reality, their work is truly critical and sincere in its desire to uncover the pathologies and hidden normalcies of inter-human relations.

Brody & Paetau realized a public artwork in Bad Ems (Germany) with the thematic stipulated by the Art Award: Provokation aus der Provinz (Provocation from the province). Their award-winning project is called: Ein lebendiger Gartenzwerg in Bad Ems.

A man of short stature, dressed up as a garden gnome, accompanied the two artists in the public space and in the gardens of inhabitants of Bad Ems. The little man – Josef Zeman from Czech Republic – works as an actor and model in Prague where the artists contracted him from a casting studio for film and television.

BIO: Ondrej Brody (b. 1980 in Prague CZ) & Kristofer Paetau (b. 1972 in Porvoo FI) met in Berlin in 2004 and have been collaborating since then.

About FLAT OUT: In keeping with our mission to provide a platform for artistic exposure, the AC Institute will be unveiling a bi-weekly rotating video project, entitled FLAT OUT, along with our exhibition and performance calendar for the 2011-2012 year.

On select Thursdays, the gallery will exhibit a new video work by emerging and experimental artists from around the globe on a LCD screen mounted at the entrance to the gallery.