pawel althamer: almech

installation view of pawel althamer’s ‘almech’, deutsche guggenheim, berlin image by mathias schormann © pawel althamer and deutsche guggenheim 2011

polish artist pawel althamer created the interactive sculptural installation ‘almech’ for deutsche guggenheim in berlin, germany. throughout the time the exhibition was on show, the artist continued to manufacture works for the gallery space. the installation became the his workshop, as he crafted hyperrealistic masks to rest atop fragmented, skeletal bodies made from steel draped with white plastic sheets. althamer, alone, did not create these works, but relied on the participation of the gallery goers to create a collaborative exhibition.

the installation was named after the small plastics factory belonging to pawel althamer’s father, adam althamer, in wesola, a suburb of warsaw, poland. for the exhibition ‘almech’, althamer opened a branch of the factory within the deutsche guggenheim. the room became filled with machines, workers and visitors all striving to produce sculptural portraits of employees for the museum, deutsche bank and the guggenheim foundation, as well as patrons of the gallery space. the reciprocal relationship between the deutsche guggenheim and almech also made necessary signage indicating this institutional exchange; ‘almech’ adorning the front of the museum in berlin and the sign of the ‘deutsche guggenheim’ written on the factory sign in wesola.

detailed view of pawel althamer’s ‘almech’, deutsche guggenheim, berlin

image by mathias schormann © pawel althamer and deutsche guggenheim 2011

detailed views of pawel althamer’s ‘almech’ installation, deutsche guggenheim, berlin

image by mathias schormann © pawel althamer and deutsche guggenheim 2011

detailed view of pawel althamer’s ‘almech’ installation, deutsche guggenheim, berlin

image by mathias schormann © pawel althamer and deutsche guggenheim 2011

pawel althamer’s ‘almech’, deutsche guggenheim, berlin image by mathias schormann © pawel althamer and deutsche guggenheim 2011

pawel althamer’s ‘almech’, deutsche guggenheim, berlin

image by mathias schormann © pawel althamer and deutsche guggenheim 2011

left: detailed view of pawel althamer’s ‘almech’, deutsche guggenheim, berlin right: almech exterior view

images by mathias schormann © pawel althamer and deutsche guggenheim 2011

paweł althamer preparations for almech, 2011 image by piotr trzebinski © paweł althamer 2011

video by vernissage tv for deutsche guggenheim