Liam Gillick / German Pavilion / Venice Biennale 2009

In Liam Gillick’s German Pavilion at the 53rd International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia 2009 one meets a kitchen and a cat. The kitchen is inspired by the design of the Frankfurter Küche (Frankfurt Kitchen) by the Viennese architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky. Conceived in 1926, the Frankfurt Kitchen with its functional form was intended to optimize household workflows. The first prototypes of today’s built-in kitchen were integrated into more than 10,000 public housing units in Frankfurt, Germany. The (animatronic) cat sits on top of the kitchen and fights against the echo in the building and tells us a circular story of misrepresentation, misunderstanding and desire.

In this video, Liam Gillick talks about how his German Pavilion should be experienced, and Ralf Schlüter of the German art magazine Art – Das Kunstmagazin reviews Liam Gillick’s work (in German language).

Liam Gillick at the German Pavilion, 53rd International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia 2009, June 4, 2009.

> Right-click (Mac: ctrl-click) this link to download Quicktime video file.


Posted in: architecture, art, interview, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, VernissageTV