Daniel Spoerri

Waschrumpeln

Apr 30th – Jul 12th, 2013

Korallenvogel a/d Serie Waschrumpel

Korallenvogel a/d Serie Waschrumpel, 2012

Assemblage

76 x 36 x 23 cm

Daniel Spoerri, passionate collector of quaint finds, archaeologist of rag-fairs and grandmaster of the assemblage, is exhibiting his new series Waschrumpeln (wash board) at the LEVY Galerie. The in the meantime historicised wash board serves as a stage for his sometimes evil, sometimes grotesquely humorous or poetical stories from the tarantula mass grave, the crying alligator baby or the curious ducks. As in the tradition of the assemblage he uses materials like shells and corals, objects from wood, metal or ceramic, naive fetish-figures and old dolls, galvanized parts of animals or the dreadlocks of a 72 year old Indian guru.

Why wash board? – „First, these earliest of washing machines, involving strenuous manual labour, are disappearing (…). Some can still remember seeing their grandmother using these boards of corrugated tin plate and wood in the washing trough. (…) Then they stay in the basement for a generation for sentimental reasons, and now, when the memory of grandmothers and aunts is fading, they turn up again where old photos, clothing and all the obsolete junk is turning up again: at flea markets and second-hand dealers.
Secondly: they have a handy format, because they were used by hand, with both hands; this means they are very suitable as a background for assemblages; similar, but different in their details – let’s say that they are practical and visually interesting.
Thirdly: they tell a story of work, of effort and of the ordeal of women, especially poor women.“ (Daniel Spoerri)

On the occasion of the exhibition a catalogue is published at Kerber Verlag with texts by Daniel Spoerri. Simultaneously a solo exhibition is on show at the Museumsberg Flensburg.