Sputnik Lobby – Eintritt

Location: Kunstverein München, München, Germany

Year: 2002

Co-authors: Maria Lind, Sören Grammel, Katarina Schlieben

Photo: Apolonija Šušteršič

An installation of chairs, tables, cupboards, lights, wall, floor, etc. In the first stage, the functional objects were limited to basic ones, such as a self-service bar, a workstation, tables and chairs, bookshelves, a magnetic info wall and a display cupboard. They were grouped into movable and changeable elements, which created a temporal situation in the space. Movable elements transformed the space in a very short time, and the changeable elements were to be replaced in the long run. Deck chairs were available during the summer for visitors to sit outside in the park and read, or to simply have a meeting in a relaxed atmosphere.

Sputnik Lobby / Eintritt was a project to re-model the entrance area of the Kunstverein München according to the new organization of the old institution. Combining the existing space with current organizational needs we produced a recycled, temporal place flexible enough to serve as a platform for different situations. Every time one visited the place, changes had occurred. Some changes were planned and others appeared randomly. The project aimed to emphasise the temporal and the transformable as an implication of our contemporary society. In this case, the space as an experience worked not only three-dimensionally, but extra dimensions were introduced into it: time, situation, and event.

Sputnik Lobby / Eintritt introduced a new function of the entrance area to the public art institution. Being an in between space between the outside (the city) and the inside (the exhibition space —the white cube), it emphasized the relationship between the public and access to art. It became a space for lectures, parties, meetings, discussions, workshops; a space for various spontaneous activities.