Ein Brief aus Glas (A Letter of Glass)
November 18 - January 07, 2023
FRAGMENT, 39 West 14th, Ste 301, New York, NY 10011
This is the first New York show by the Swiss artist Pascale Birchler, made in collaboration with musician Konstantin Smirnov.
Pascale Birchler’s work occupies the complete gallery space; it is an image in three dimensions, physically accessible to the spectator. The space is colored in hues of blue and gray; to specify its atmosphere, the artist writes: “Gray doesn’t reflect light in the same way as white, but it doesn’t swallow it up like black would either; I am hoping for a feeling of dullness—a vacuum that draws things together and isolates them at the same time. The colors, however, should shine.” Seated on a chair in the middle of the space is the figure of a young woman in life size, leaning back, legs stretched out, feet flat on the floor, eyes closed, as if never to get up again. Different objects are lining the walls, like backdrops enclosing a stage. The central element among these objects is a letter of glass exposing the words “Liebe Evelyne” (Dear Evelyne). Its material fragility functions as a pointer to the fundamental, irrefutable ambiguity introduced by the letter. Is the seated figure its sender or addressee? Impossible to decide; it can be either one. The spectator is invited to walk around in the twilight zone where one person through her thoughts, her longing, her despair is connecting to the figure of the absent other. From a certain distance the spectator will regard her and inspect the surrounding objects as if they were pieces of evidence—evidence of what goes on in the woman’s mind. Indeed, by reading her mind, the viewer takes the place of the absent other, assuring an alien presence. This is the function of the three-dimensional setting of Birchler’s image: It transforms the viewer into a participant, a counterpart, infused with fluid identity.
Birchler has emphasized personal premises informing her pieces. Ein Brief aus Glas as well as other works of hers show, however, how the autobiographic dimension is transformed into a construction of general concern. — Ulrich Loock
In the collaborative exhibition ‘Ein Brief aus Glas’, Konstantin Smirnov invites us on an acoustic odyssey: drawing inspiration from Pascale Birchler’s work, intimate melodies weave a dual sense of proximity and expansion, as deep humming mono-tunnels pull us into a contemplative drift. In this soundscape, mouth-produced effects make us uncannily aware of our own physicality, while audio snapshots, recorded in New York and taken out of context, add layers of conceptual complexity and confusion. Fragments like these, whether ironic, comical, or tragic—we cannot help but interpret them. "Experiencing music is ultimately a trip", Konstantin says, drawing in the perceiver with a siren call for fears and fantasies. "Eventually, however, one returns." This passage, too, deserves reflection. — Felix von der Weppen
Pascale Birchler (b. 1982, lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland) is a recipient of the 2023-2024 International Studio & Curatorial Program at ISCP Residency, New York, USA. She has exhibited her work at Istituto Svizzero in Rome, Gallery Peter Kilchmann in Zurich, Kunstverein Friedrichshafen in Germany, UCCA Edge in Shanghai, China, and the Museum Helmhaus in Zurich, among others. From 2011 to 2016, she collaborated with Arienne Birchler.
