am fluß (treibt eine wespe die schläft aber bloß) (On the River (floats a Wasp but only Sleeps)) / 2003 / Show: On the River (floats a Wasp but only Sleeps) / 05.05. 27.06.2003 / Kerstin Engholm Galerie, Vienna
In his first solo exhibition, Misha Stroj, will present further problems taken from his copious book: „moma. the museum of the mechanical age“. After studying philosophy he began to study art at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in 1997. He completed his studies with the above cited book project and a prize of recognition awarded by the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Culture 2002. Shortly thereafter, he showed an impressive piece (“Schrödinger’s Kitchen”) in a group show. „Schrödinger’s Kitchen“ emerged from problem no. 59. “ The problem of sedimentation and of thinning out. The clarity of the affect. All forces” which is manifested in a transformation of the artist’s own kitchen. A sculpture emerged from the linoleum floor, the wall boards joined by tongue and groove and a blue table top. It is associated with “the probably last photograph depicting Schrödinger”. Misha Stroj lays a trail, suspending a thread between the elements of text/image/object and claims to have solved the problem. In his latest work he goes back to the beginning.
was bleibt bzw. möglich wärs ja. (noch schläft sie, das erste bild) (what is left aka possible would it be (still she sleeps, the first image)) / 2003 / wood, glass, fabric, plaster, bicycle tubes, ppermaché, hinges, tape, nylon / Show: On the River (floats a Wasp but only Sleeps) / Vienna
Problem no. 1, which already addresses the issue of the beginning, is “The Problem of Volatility and the Frenzy of Legitimation. The Formation of Signs”. The first picture in “moma” shows a figure in the back court yard throwing a typewriter with wellrehearsed verticality – the perpendicular toss ensures that the thrown object will return to the person throwing it.
In a further move, the work will deal with a speedskater known as Offenberger who falls right before reaching the goal. With this fall he seems to go down in the pictorial history of the public media – more than the actual winners of this race. In Misha Stroj’s works the fine line between necessity and possibility becomes particularly evident. These are conceptions that do not fall silent in their own explanations but rather take it upon themselves to exist on this thin foundation, that is precisely this indecisiveness. The beginning has already set in. Misha Stroj will proceed from exactly this point.
(Matthias Ulrich)
hullahoop southeast 1959 (prehistory) / 2002 papermaché, string / 6 x 120 x 124 cm + attempted reconstruction of a forgotten historical model that did not want to assert itself (detail) / 2002 / 11 bwphotograohies / 20 x 20 cm each
