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The Exhibition Formerly Known as Passengers: 2.4 Kirsten PierothPost an Event »

CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts

December 2 - January 4, 2009

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360 Kansas Street San Francisco, CA 94103
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The Exhibition Formerly Known as Passengers: 2.4 Kirsten Pieroth
German artist Kirsten Pieroth's practice often centers on the corruption of everyday items, creating a tension between the literal and abstract readings of these objects as signifiers of particular historical and cultural moments. For Dead Ant (2005), the artist squashed an ant in a Penguin edition of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes written by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1891, essentially leaving evidence of an ant murder on the mystery novel. In a poetic play on form and function, in Untitled (2007) Pieroth shredded a broom into a pile of dust on the floor. Another work, Money Box (2007) consists of a miniature clay safe that had been fired in the only remaining German kiln still producing old-fashioned ceramic safes designed to withstand fire. The accompanying video documents the process of firing something so that it may withstand fire. Drawing on a subtle method of appropriation, Pieroth's alteration and displacement of common objects not only underscores the frailty of such structures but also comments on the seemingly artificial construction of our world.