Ingo Gerken

Ingo Gerken tricks the world with small gestures with far-reaching consequences. As a matter of course he takes over the urban space or occupies completely immodest public spaces with his own formal markings. Fountain stands in the context of Cityworks. Within this cycle of works Ingo Gerken alienates and photographs cityscapes by, for example, holding art postcards in the picture, depending on the motif, thus changing the scenery. This procedure is also reflected in Fountain. But here it is a small, yellow watering can in the middle of a lush green meadow. The artist holds a blowball into the picture, whose airy blossom covers the opening of the watering can neck. The associations bubble up as the water jet would, the divine hint from the Sistina meets Bruce Nauman’s Self Portrait as a Fountain. But now it is Ingo Gerken who, with bated breath, carries out his own fleeting act of creation, puts on a shower in a flash and stops Nauman’s water jet for a moment.

Ingo Gerken
Fountain, 2009
Lightjet-Print, framed
44 × 53 cm
Edition 6
450 €