michael beutler : double up at open house singapore art biennale 2011

mesh fence, paper, wire dimensions variable commissioned by the singapore art biennale 2011 image © designboom

german artist michael beutler creates ad hoc architectural structures, manufactured according to the principles of industry and the creative values of labour. he develops hand-operated machines that produce modular elements to form giant structure installations. the uniform sculptures are based on pre-determined patterns and are pointing to the way that urban environments are based on the production of repeatable systems on a vast scale. the formal element of the sculpture that fills the entire hall, reveals the process used in its creation, interacting organically with the space surrounding it.

michael beutler was born in 1976 in oldenburg, germany. he lives and works in berlin.

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

singapore biennale press conference at old kallang airport image © designboom

from left to right: mr. tan boon hui (director of SAM singapore art museum), mr. matthew ngui (artistic director of singapore biennale), and sinagpore biennale 2011 curators mr. russell storer and mr. trevor smith image © designboom

— the third edition of the singapore biennale (SB2011) opened its doors to the public on march 13th and will run until may 15th, 2011.  designboom visited the shows led by artistic director matthew ngui and curators russell storer and trevor smith. the SB2011 open house program is organized by the singapore art museum (SAM) of the national heritage board and supported by the national arts council, singapore. 63 artists from 30 countries are presenting 161 works across four exhibition venues – SAM and SAM at 8Q, the national museum of singapore, old kallang airport and marina bay. 

with its focus on artistic processes, the third singapore biennale marks the highest proportion of artists to date who are presenting new site-specific commissions or premieres: 34 artists or 54 % of all participating artists. it also has the strongest asian and local representation to date, with more than 40% of the artists (27 out of 63) hailing from asia and nine singaporeans artists in all.