english portfolio - Benjamin Zuber

Benjamin Zuber | selected artworks
Content
pages 3-130 selected artworks
pages 131-134 CV and imprint

Two bad jokes balancing on each other
2012, object | transparent hose, wire, tubeclips, cable

2012, installation view,
various objekts

smart answers to stupid questions
2012, exhibition view
Blackbox Gallery Copenhagen

Quartet
2012, wooden Object and Film
A film shows four strange guys performing
as a string quartet – while they
actually just cut the wooden pieces for
the screen the film is projected on.

Accurecy is in the eye of the beholder
2012, exhibition view (with Daniel Kiss)

ow of holes (drillbattle)
2012, Installation (with Daniel Kiss)
wood, MP3 player, sound of the
drillbattle, ceiling of the gallery with
acoustic boards

straightened
2012, object | stick, hot glue

Charles-Darwin-Ring
2012, installation | various objects
The titel of that work comes from a
map I found online. It shows the way to
a small company in Rostock, Germany,
which is located in a little dead-end
street, boastfully named „Charles-
Darwin-Ring“.
As a non-ring ring can be interpreted
as kind of a phallus symbol, I added
another find from the internet: Every
empty page of a completely digitalized
(german) version of Charles Darwin‘s
„The Descent of Man, and Selection in
Relation to Sex“. On each empty page
a little ruler can be found. Another
Phallus-Symbol with the proud length
of 16 centimeters. They are presented
in a chipboard showcase, face to face
with another ruler on a pedestal which
pretends to be 20 centimeters while its
real length also counts just 16.
A third from the internet is the top-100list
of the biggest carps ever captured,
which is several metres long if you
print it.
Finally the last piece of the installation
comes from fish back to the ring:
Six oversized maki-sushis, made of
toilet paper, gaffer tape and cleaning
sponges.

Photo: Hannes Woidich
Ein Brief (a letter)
2011, installation (mit Daniel Kiss)
various objects

Ein Brief (a letter)
Detail: „Three bucks“, vat paper, handmade
from three US-dollar bills.

ten bucks | 2012, object | vat paper, hand made from ten dollar
bills, showcase (chipboard, drywall, glass)

250g | 2011, installation | wooden frame, clothesline, hand made paper

250g
details

Räuberknoten
2012, installation (failed) | drywall, cw studs, wood, rope

Räuberknoten
above: shoot of the fall after releasing the
knot
below: before the fall
(Photo: Michael Munding)
right side: model

no title (plaster)
2012, plaster object and projection

The projection shows a bag of plaster lying
on a sheet of ice in the sea.
Every time the waves are flushing the
bag it becomes heavier – until the floe
breaks and the bag sinks.
After the recording the bag was recovered,
dried and unpacked and is now
used as projection screen for the documentation
of the process of its formation.

Roh (raw)
2007, installation
55kg of raw yeast dough, autopsy table,
dissecting room

55 kg of raw yeast dough were lying on
an autopsy table in the dissecting room.
During the five days of the exhibition the
dough changed its consistency and shape.
The room was filled with the strong
smell of yeast.

profile
no title | 2012, object
styrofoam, trash bag, water

Fett (fat)
2010, objekt
various boards, butter, portable floodlight,
chain

no title (Schwerebeschleunigung/
apparent gravity)
2011, installation
chipboard, model grass, dimmer, cable,
plugs, bulbs, hot glue

no title (Schwerebeschleunigung/
apparent gravity) | details

Assembling
2012, performance with bulb and hot glue
(duration: ca. 5 minutes)

Dosenöffner (Can-Opener)
2011, objekt
chipboard, stovepipe, chain, can of beer

Physik 1 | 2010, digital printing on vat paper, each 70x50
cm | scanned from an physics-schoolbook and scaled up

Lightbox | 2011, objekt
fluorescent tube, chipboards (sanded from
its inside until it became translucent)

Lightbox | 2011, objekt
fluorescent tubes, chipboards (sanded from its
inside until it became translucent)

Steambox | 2010, object
chipboard-cube, glass bottle, water, immersion
heater (35x25x25 cm)
The immersion heater boils the water.
The steam causes the sides of the formerly
exact cube to bend until its miters
seperate from each other.

Falle (trap) | 2011, object | loose sticked hdf-parts, laser engraved wood grain

Race | 2011, Objekt und Film auf DVD
chipboard with cuts and line (picture on
the left), film with jigsaw-race (filmstill
below)
A single chipboard is leaning on the
wall. Because of three vertical cuts from
different lenght and a horizontal black
line the board resembles an abstract drawing.
A film projection close to the chipboard
exposes its real origin: A kind of
a race between three jigsaws has taken
place on the board. Tilting of the chipboard
allowed the jigsaws to run through
the wood, just driven by gravity and their
engine power.

selfbraking laths | 2012, object
laths, wedge (cut of exactly the same laths),
rolls, rallyestripes made of tape

Doppelknoten | 2012, installation view | various objects

most commonly used | 2012, installation | tie knots
made of perforated tape, ribbon, laths

most commonly used
detail: the four-in-hand-knot

ainbow | 2012, installation
cleaning sponges, used drinking glasses,
glass panel

leveled | 2011, installation | Three Frankfurt
shovels, three water-filled buckets, a two
meter level, three photographies

Men in Blue (ghostbusters) | 2009, collection of photographies
spirit de-possession performance at Gunther von Hagens bodyworlds
with: Julian Baumann, Nina Malotta, Thomas Rustemeyer, Philipp Scholz

Table | 2011, object | table-top support, chipboard, styrofoam, paper, tension belts

Hochsitz zur Beobachtung des jungen Wildes | 2008, installation
professor‘s studio, course tables, tension belts, Petersburg Hanging with collected
paintings of students

Tarnzelt | 2008, installation
stretchers, painted canvas, telescope
The conception for Tarnzelt comes from the
idea of transferring the operating mode of
a regular camouflage tent (used for the observation
of animals) to an artspace.
The triangular tent is built up from three
strechters. A canvas is stretched over them
– painted with painting-camouflage. The
tent is lightweight and easy to transport and
mount.
Inside the tent there is a telescope for observing
other artworks.

Hollywood (made in china) | 2010,
three part installation
instruction manual, chinese calligraphy,
parts of a canopy swing (so called
„hollywood“-swing in Germany)

no title (Su-Shi) | 2011, installation | toilett-paper, paper napkins,
gaffertape, cleaning sponges, bamboo, corrugated board, black mdf,
black foil, photography

Gonzales Cojones | 2011, drawing

Flugmaschine (flying machine) | 2010, Photography
C-Print/Aludibond/Acrylglass, 50 x 75 cm

Origin | 2008, installation
aluminium, varnish, chalk

Frame | 2011, object | digital frame, mirror tile,
glass panel, table tripod

Player | 2011, object
DVD-player, metall rack, DVD with freeze frame

no title (stroked shadow)
2011, object | fleece tile, black insulator

white cube inside-out (closed) | 2011, installation

White cube is a hanging White Cube made
of white stretch film, containing a square
of stretched matte black foil. The room is
lit with fluorescent tubes.
The cube is constructed of two identical
horizontal pieces, which define the form
and the size of the cube. The walls do not
need any support – the lower piece simply
hangs within the film and stretches it
with its weight.
Viewed from the inside, the stretch film
appears to be glossy and opaque white.
But, from the outside the material is
translucent and reminiscent of parchment,
transforming the outer facade into
a kind of a painting.
Finally the whole installation works as an
inside-out White Cube and illuminates
the surrounding exhibition space.
white cube inside-out (open)
2010, installation | White stretch film, pond liner,
fluorescent tubes, laths, tension belts

Heimwerk
2011, installation | „Schiesser“ Undershirt, ingrain
wallpaper (corrugated by wire), various
painting accessory

Platzhirsch | 2011, installation
used towels, fiber glass tent poles, curtain rod,
tent strings
The Platzhirsch is a kind of a banner, made of
camouflage-green used towels.
The single towels are perforated with eyelets,
similar to those of a regular tarpaulin,
which are knotted to each other with string.
Although they were crafted and colored in
a uniform way, they now differ due to their
varying signs of usage.
The flagpole is made of a bunched group of
fiber glass tent poles which bends under the
banner‘s weight. A curtain rod to which the
towels are fixed is suspended from the top
of the banner.
The title of the work also refers to the widespread
habit of claiming public space by
reserving it with a towel.

La Fontaine | 2010, installation at public space (with Thea Möller)
fiberglass, silicone, pipes, rubber ropes, string, hopper

La Fontaine | Detail
La Fontaine is kind of a uncompleted
fountain, which was temporarly installed
during Nurembergs „blauer Nacht“ (public
event, museum night). In a dark backyard
which is even in regular nights often
abused as alternative toilett.
The installed hopper positively invited
to that function. The pipes ensure at the
same time a clean drain into the next gully.
As soon as a pedestrian uses the fountain
as toilett, he instantly becomes the
missing fountain and completes the installation.

avens | 2009, objects (with Nina Malotta)
trash bags, gaffertape

Foto: Marianne Vordermayr
Wesseltoasts | 2008, eatable sculpture
Toast, various spreads
The Wesseltoasts are little eatable objects,
based on a painting by Tom Wesselmann.
Unlike the original, the picture
is not made of oil on canvas, but of conventional
spread (like sausages, ham,
cheese etc.) on toast.
The usage of a custom-built cutter
enables mass production of Wesseltoasts.

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the
Mind of Someone Living
2008, multiple (edition of 20) | Lego bricks,
woodruff jelly

power source
power consumption
indicator
Verbraucher
bulb, painted
light-proof black
Verbraucher | 2009, multiple (edition of 64)
scale energy audit, lamp socket, light bulb, heat resistant
black varnish

Benjamin Zuber
+49 160 94621833
www.benjaminzuber.com
mail@benjaminzuber.com
Lives and works currently in Munich.
Curriculum Vitae:
1982 born in Bamberg/Germany
2003 - 2004 media studies and art history, FAU Erlangen
2004 - 2011 Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg, „Meisterschüler“ at Professor Michael Munding
2008 - 2009 HFG Karlsruhe (stipend)
2008 - 2009 Guest student Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe
2009 Assistant lecturer at the Academy of fine Arts Nuremberg
2010 - 2011 Academy of fine Arts Vienna
Grants and Stipends::
Stipend of Künstlerhaus Eckernförde (2012)
„Debütantenförderung“ (funding for graduates) of the Free State of Bavaria (2012)
Funding of „Erwin und Gisela von Steiner Stiftung“ Munich (for the exhibition „Platzhirsch“ at CirkulationsCentralen, Malmö/Schweden; 2011)
„Kulturförderpreis Bayern“ (E.ON AG and the Free State of Bavaria, 2011)
Artprize of the city of Lauf 2010
Free-Mover stipend of the DAAD (Vienna, 2009)
foreign exchange scholarship of the „Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes“ (Vienna, 2009)
Second prize of the artist‘s fair Karlsruhe 2009
Nominated for the Artprize of Bosch-Rexroth (2008)
Artprize Brandad Systems - second prize (2008)
Stipend of the „Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes „(2008)
Grand prize of the city of Lauf 2008
Stipend of the Free State of Bavaria for guest studys at the HFG Karlsruhe (2007)
„Materialpreis“ / annual show of the AdbK Nurenberg, 2007
Artprize Noris 2007
selected publications:
not yet titled, solo catalog of the bavarian funding for graduates, Munich/Nuremberg 2012. (in preparation)
„but this place in this way I have seen“, in: „Lotto Magazin und das Spiel ums Ganze“, Stuttgart 2012 (Interview with Melanie Biedermann).
„anders:wo / 2. Triennale Schweinfurt für zeitgenössische Kunst“, Schweinfurter Museumsschriften, Schweinfurt 2012 (catalog of the exhibition).
„re•turn / 350 Jahre AdbK Nürnberg“, Verlag für moderne Kunst, Nuremberg (catalog of the exhibition). (in preparation)
„Und der Gewinner ist… – Nürnberger Teilnehmer am bundesweiten Wettbewerb von Studierenden der deutschen Kunsthochschulen von
1983 bis 2011“, Verlag für moderne Kunst, Nuremberg 2012 (catalog of the exhibition and essay).
Benjamin Zuber: „Platzhirsch“, brochure about the solo exhibition at CirKulationsCentralen Malmo, Munich/Malmo 2011.
Rothmüller, Barbara: „Chancen verteilen. Ansprüche und Praxis universitärer Zulassungsverfahren“, Arts & Culture & Education Band 6, hg. von
Agnieszka Czejkowska, Wien 2011 (article).
„Kunststudentinnen und Kunststudenten stellen aus 2011“, Bonn 2011 (catalog of the exhibition).
„The Art of Drive & Control – Der Rexroth-Kunstwettbewerb 2008“, Würzburg 2008 (catalog of the exhibition).
selected exhibitions:
[SE] = Solo exhibition, [C] = Catalog
2013 not yet titled, exhibition of the bavarian funding for graduates, Ausstellungshalle of the academy of fine Arts, Nuremberg,
Nuremberg/Germany [SE] (in preparation)
not yet titled, das weisse Haus, Vienna/Austria (in preparation)
2012 not yet titled (exhibition of the Jahresgaben), Kunstraum München, Munich/Germany (in preparation)
„smart answers to stupid questions“, Black Box Gallery, Copenhagen/Denmark [SE]
„die Präzesion liegt im Auge des Betrachters“ (with Daniel Kiss), curated by Z.A.C.K., Kunstverein Würzburg/BBK Galery at
Kulturspeicher Würzburg, Würzburg/Germany [SE]
„Neu Eröffnung“, Kulturschutzgebiet Dachauerstr./Schwere-Reiter-Str., Munich/Germany
„anders:wo / 2. triennial for contemporary fine Arts Schweinfurt“, curated by Hans-Peter Miksch, Kunsthalle Schweinfurt,
Schweinfurt/Germany [C]
„springhouse“, curated by Sven Christian Schuch and Anna Bründl, Rugestr. 9, Dresden/Germany
„re•turn, 350 Jahre AdbK Nürnberg“, curated by Sebastian Hein, Andreas Oehlert and Ladislav Zajac, Halle 20 auf AEG, Nuremberg/Germany
[C]
„Und der Gewinner ist…“, curated by Andrea Dippel, Kunsthaus Nuremberg, Nuremberg/Germany [C]
„Crossbreeds 2012“, Palais Kabelwerk, Vienna/Austria
„Parallelaktion“, UniCredit Kunstraum, Munich/Germany
„Doppelknoten“, Frappant, Hamburg/Germany [SE]
2011 „Dual“ (with Daniel Kiss), curated by Uwe Schramm and Peter Schmieder, Kunsthaus Essen andKünstlerhaus Dortmund,
Essen and Dortmund/Germany
„Schwerebeschleunigung“, Heyestr. 117, Düsseldorf/Germany
„Platzhirsch“, CirkulationsCentralen, Malmo/Sweden [SE, C]
„Aichacher Kunstpreis“, Kunstverein Aichach, Aichach/Germany
„Young at Art“, Gallery Art Seefeld, Zurich/Schweiz
„Display ´11“, curated by Cornelia Gockel and Peter Wendl, Gallery Steinle Contemporary, Munich/Germany
„Kunststudenten stellen aus“, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn/Germany [C]
„Saved by Entropie – Time wins again“, curated by Michael Franz and Nadim Vardag, Kunstbunker, Nuremberg/Germany
„Weiße Zelle“, Werkstatt Strunkgasse, Mainz/Germany [SE]
„Terminator 2“, LOVE_ Kunstverein, Vienna/Austria

2010 „Multiple Market“, Black Box Gallery, Copenhagen/Denmark
„Rohmaterial“, Raumstation L, Vienna/Austria [SE]
„Was zubert der Zimmermann“ (with Benjamin Zimmermann), curated by Z.A.C.K., Ausstellungshalle of the AdbK, Nuremberg/Germany
[SE]
„Ars Electronica“ (with Black Box Gallery), former tobacco factory, Linz/Austria
„Black&Brunn“, Gallery Brunnhofer, Linz/Austria
„Things you can walk into“ (Regionale 10 / Steiermark, with the class of Pawel Althamer), Schloss Trautenfels, Steiermark/
Austria [C]
„la fontaine“ (with Thea Möller; at the „blauen Nacht / langen Nacht der Museen“), Akademie Galerie, Nuremberg/Germany
[SE]
„Zeugzusammenhang“, curated by Z.A.C.K., Ausstellungshalle of the AdbK, Nuremberg/Germany
„Flugmaschine“, die Vitrine, Nuremberg/Germany [SE]
2009 „Wesselbrot“, Berliner Kunstverein, Münster/Germany [SE]
„Schwarze Kunst“, Zeughaus, Schweinfurt/Germany [C]
„Kalrsruher Künstlermesse 2009“, Regierungspräsidium, Karlsruhe/Germany [C]
„Subversivmesse“, Hafenhalle09, Linz/Austria
2008 „The Art of Drive and Control“ (Ausstellung zum Kunstpreis Bosch-Rexroth), Industrie- und Handelskammer, Würzburg/Germany
[C]
„Biennale di Sculture di Carrara“ (at „Lo Spazio e gli Altri“), Ex Caserma Dogali, Carrara/Italien[C]
„Stellen, Hängen, Legen?“, curated by Kathleen Rahn, Ausstellungshalle of the AdbK, Nuremberg/Germany
„Conflict Research Action Program“, Akademie Galerie Nuremberg and ZKM Karlsruhe/Germany
„Kunstmesse Nürnberg 08“ (exhibition), Akademie Galerie, Nuremberg/Germany
„Nebenstern“, curated by Bianca Häutle and Julia Leicht, former Casino, Nuremberg/Germany
2007 „Art at Work 2007“, Smurfit-Kappa factory, Nuremberg/Germany
„Blaue Nacht Nürnberg“, public space, Nuremberg/Germany
„Rencontres Internationales Paris, Berlin, Madrid“, Madrid/Spain
2006 „Rencontres Internationales Paris, Berlin, Madrid“, Paris/France
Imprint
Benjamin Zuber
selected artworks
September 2012
www.benjaminzuber.com
mail@benjaminzuber.com
images and texts: Benjamin Zuber
(exceptions are marked)
© 2012, Benjamin Zuber