london COIMME des MARXISTS fashion space gallery london college of fashion UAL:
MARX FIRE ALARM, MARX ON FIRE
/ Explode / Extinghuish / Fire action / DIAL MARX, ... S
LONDON 2018
(UAL:/ London College of Fashion / Fashion Space Gallery; Frieze Art Fair; Frieze Masters; Serpentine Gallery; Serpentine Sackler, ICA London; TATE MODERN (Turbine Hall) Whitechappel Gallery
instagram: @rainerganahl
about this work:
Asked too many times "WHY MARX" and standing next to the LCF /UAL's fire extinguisher, I suddenly compared Marx to a fire extinguisher, a magic life saving tool to be employable anywhere , any time.
so I go on repeating myself, MARX FOR ME IS A FIRE EXTINGUISHER.
note: I keep asking younger folks for years now about the meaning of the Hammer & Sickle symbole. To my astonishment, nobody really knows anymore and even in Germany.
to NOT stress you: it stands for COMMUNISM and communism was and still is in large parts of the world an official state wide doctrine *philosophy, going hand in hand with an authoritarian, party line organized repressive interpretation of MARXISM.
Hence, me too, I ALSO am not a communist and don't want to have a communist regime. I also do not need to be reduced to a Marxist as an informer of communism. After the start of the Soviet Union, the Serp i Molo, Серп и молот, "sickle and hammer" symbol took off and inspired // in all likelyhood/ Hitler to come up with his quasi comparable form of a political symbol that features a dynamic circular overlapping a few strokese - the swastica which weirdly enought is still widely in use and enjoys a much higher recognizabilty.
I also understand what excites me to the point of jubilation, on instagram where these things were posted and commented, i get near no LIKES... an indicator about comprehension or not.
Like Charly Chaplin in his film Modern Times, in which his character mistakes a bottom filmed dress for screws, I started to see the hammer SIGN on the fire extinghuishers once i drew a a sickle.
NOT ASKED OR allowed, I started t "MARKS UP those fire distinghuisher and play wiht a bit of micro- anarchzy.
DIAL MARX...
Fashion Space Gallery / UAL: / London College of Fashion, 2018
see my show.. Comme des Marxists, London,
Don't play wiht Marx !!!
FRIEZE ARTFAIR, London 2018
TO THE POEPLE !
WE EXPLODE !
Frieze Masters, London 2018
MARX FOAM...
toilet area, next to the beaufiful booth by David Zwirner who showed beautful KUSAMA and beautfiufl Franz West (both kept monocrhome white.. /// this fire extinguisher would fit perfectly !!!)
Serpentine Sackler, London, 2018
See Fire fighting equipment in the corner. due to the bad weather, rain, the gallery shop person was carefully overseeing the space and I couldn't even approach the extremly cmpressed fire fighting chemicals in it's red HAMMER & SACKLER looking steel case
The ciruclating police car was also not really inspiring and i sackled up my will to micro-vandalize with some sharpy MarXing up and let it go / THERE at least I was not looking suspicious making a photo.. The main Serpentine Gallery, asked me to leae and no photo was allowed. It goes without saying I left without any discussions.
ICA, London 2018
This is the first non-classical space I ever entered as a hitch hiking teenager on my frist visit to London some time ago. I must have stumpled upon it due to the prominade leading up to the palace gate - BUT for sure not because of anything that vaguely resembled an art education. I do thought remember that I might have seen works by David Hockney or Richard Hamilton ((( but again , back at the time before there was an internet))) ...
I immediately attracted the special attention of the guard who folowed me into the video screenings, from room to room. I didn t really bother to take off my rain poncho and looked rather like a messanger which I kind of identify with. Once at the Coffee area all supervision receded and I could myself relax and enjoy the great fire fighting equipment while people glued to the Stalker/Solaris/Tarkovsky/HitoSteyerle /GucciCarpet&Screen reminding attractions. Thus I was able to kaRlmarX UP the very best fire fighting equipment of the London.. SINCE I started paying attention to
by the waz: Stephan Kalmar is director; I envy him for his name !!! I wish my middle name would be MARIA ... thought I'm meanwhile proud of my last name as it manifests itself in 3 versions that are culturally remarXXXable. From Viennese psychoanalytical, to current pop culture to purely functonal, or lets call it Venitian //// don"t google Venitian Style 18 century).
At ICA, I was very relaxed and from bite to bite, sip to sip, I could put my sharpy at work. Stephan forgibe me, I pay you for the equipment if you keep it for me ( and don t wash it just off) // remember nothing put the security OF THE PEOPLE at risk at any moment.. !!!! important !!! don"t mess with fire, or explosives, or MARX .. except you wanna be like me a fake-like-marxist
Dial MARX
I love numbers, i hate the events standing for them.. 1848 was a horribel moment, about as bad as the Brexit / Trump / Kavanaugh moments that are marXXXing our current defile into some sort of new authoritariansim. at least it will undo the 1968 and on liberal wave that also was initiated with brutal crackdowns against students and workers ... most lethal and least konwn MEXICO CITY 1968 ( hence i went to visit it this year, BRUTALIST MANIFESTO.
TATE MODERN, London 2018
Tate Modern is high security zone. The extinghuisher was at the very end. Alone walking all the way over into the eatern corner north eastern corner of the turbine hall was attracting attention and i only did it fast. A guard was immediatly at the site but was trained to look for packages and others things and did in all likelyhood not notice the famous German London based economic thinker. On the way out, i was also able to quickly MARX up a fire report box opposite an elevator.
Whitechappel, London, 2018
Whitechappe offered the best protection for my sharpy MARXING. I only had to stay in line for a very popular show that reminded me of a version of the Munster piece by the animal friendly artist that is currently on view at the Serpentine. So I could nicely, nearly calmly stay on line, pretend to be busy and do my job,do like fake marxists do, commedesmarxists @commedesmarxists.com
The security guard, equipped with a big chain and old style larger than locks keys, walky talkies and flash lights hanging on her uniform, intimidated me to the point, I surrendered immediatly voluntarily. I nearly missed my flight back to New York safty but confessed to her that it was not me but Karl who committed this mess. As you can see on the billiard ball of my checked below my camouflage outfit, the number meant luck and i was off the hook just like ..... ( I GUESS AROUND THAT TIME.. the slightly bigger but epoque making supereme court lie was confirmed and know doesn't go away for decades / I WISH my black marXXXings would survive the next cleaning.
