"We Did It / Disputed Territory" is dividing and reopening the space. In doing so, the artist reenacts the phenomenon of shrinking cities. The intervention seems to open itself as a question towards what is public and what is private, fusing some of the principal points the artist has been working on in the recent past: the contrast between a space and a “non-space”, between an art-dedicated context and a temporary created exhibition space.
In a place as public as Schlesisches Tor U-Bahn corner, the artist places the first object constituting the exhibition. The sign “we did it/disputed territory” gives an inequivocable direction to the intentions of the project. Pointing in the direction of the gallery, but without giving any further information, this street-specific piece completely loses its function, becoming an abstract object. Its unpredictable destiny emphasizes its non-function as well, in contrast with its appearance as an informative object.

Entering the gallery one is confronted with two different scenarios, again a reinterpretation of the contrast between public and private. The upper floor of the gallery is transformed into an abandoned room, dark and dirty, seemingly closed since long. A hole into a wall reveals a passage into the lower space, a clean, white and welcoming exhibition space. The artworks here presented share the same process making of the upper floor of the gallery: with an intentional elaboration the artist makes them look old and dirty. In this direction, the space itself becomes a camouflage for the artist, a stage where questions about use and interpretation can arise, reflecting on the idea of authenticity and aesthetic honesty of the artistic practice.
Jenny Chert