TIM NOBLE AND SUE WEBSTER
BLAIN|SOUTHERN BERLIN
‘Turning the Seventh Corner’
April 29 – July 16, 2011

Tim Noble and Sue Webster will open Blain|Southern Berlin with a monumental installation inspired by the tombs of the Egyptian Pharaohs. The opening coincides with the city’s May Gallery Weekend opening on April 29.

The gallery, formerly the printing presses of Der Tagesspiegel, Germany’s liberal daily newspaper, is located on Potsdamer Strasse less than a mile from Potsdamer Platz. The total floor space is 1,300 square metres, of which more than half will be exhibition space.

Award-winning architect David Adjaye is collaborating with Tim Noble and Sue Webster on Turning the Seventh Corner. This is the second time he has worked with the artists, having commissioned a site-specific sculpture by them, Toxic Schizophrenia (Hyper Version), 2007, for the outside of the Museum of Contemporary Arts Denver, which he also designed.

Tim Noble and Sue Webster are best known for their ‘shadow sculptures’ in which they use discarded rubbish, animals and other matter that are then illuminated from a single light source creating portraits of themselves.Their work also includes light sculptures which elevate the kitsch of low art forms, such as Las Vegas strip hotels and tattoo parlours, into iconic tropes of pop art.

Turning The Seventh Corner draws on these and other practices. However, the artists’ desire for an element of surprise and mystery has led them to hold back on revealing every detail of the work, which they have created as a journey of exploration.

Upon arriving at the doorway on the second floor of the gallery the viewer enters a labyrinth of man-made tunnels, dimly lit with narrowing passages. These ascend and descend in a spiral-like manner and have been designed to disorientate and, in doing so, steer the mind towards a more open and meditative state, one alive to enquiry.

After passing the seven corners, an allusion to the Book of Proverbs, 9:1 – “Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars”, the viewer enters a tomb-like area where the secret creation by Tim Noble and Sue Webster, one of beauty, surprise, wonder and enlightenment, is revealed.

Says Webster: “Since I was a teenager I’ve been enthralled by the idea of Berlin and by the way it has attracted the creative energies of two of my great heroes David Bowie and Nick Cave – and so following in this great tradition, Tim and I are proud to initiate our most ambitious project to date in this fabulous city.”