Ruppe Koselleck

Ruppe Koselleck (born July 18, 1967 in Dossenheim near Heidelberg ) is a German conceptual artist .

Life

In 1990 Koselleck began studying philosophy and sociology in Cologne and Münster. In 1994 he moved to the Art Academy in Münster, in the class of Lutz Mommartz , and in 1999 to the family class with Andreas Köpnick . In 2000 he married the artist Susanne von Bülow , with whom he now has two daughters. Stays in Japan and Korea followed. In 2001 Koselleck's regular studies ended and his master class year began. From 2005 to 2007 he was the artistic director of the cultural office of the Westphalian Wilhelms University in Münster . Since 2009 he has been leading the pilot project Satellit-Kunstverein for extracurricular artistic training for young people. In 2010 Koselleck was given a teaching assignment for artistic interventions in public space at the University of Kassel; since 2012 he has been a lecturer at the University of Osnabrück for experimental art education strategies.

Works and projects

The art of Ruppe Koselleck is based on Dada , Fluxus and Concept Art , but, in contrast to these directions, can be specifically located socio-politically. It always contains conceptual and communicative elements, it always wants to be socially relevant, critical and funny at the same time.

As a result, Koselleck rarely produces tangible works such as pictures or sculptures and rather initiates ideas and generates processes. These are often followed over very long periods of time, in many different places and in a wide variety of media.

At the beginning of his training as an artist, he founded his own series of publications, “Der Meisterschüler”, which is still online and as a newsletter today.

Artistic criticism of capitalism

In 1998 Koselleck started his specific form of artistic criticism of capitalism , a creative examination of the capital economy . After the establishment of the “Office for Deflationary Measures” Koselleck withdrew banknotes in a pseudo-official manner in order to raise them to the rank of works of art, sealed in plastic, signed and numbered. This ongoing project was last updated and expanded with the monetary devaluation campaign "Stilblüten" as part of the exhibition "häuser bilder fenster 2011" in Münster.

Hostile takeover of British Petroleum

Koselleck's work reached a new level in 2002 with the initiation of the hostile takeover of British Petroleum . This struggle of a single artist against a large corporation, which puts the artist either in the role of David or Don Quixote , gave him an increase in sympathy in times of turbo-capitalism . The trigger was the discovery of lumps of tar on the beach on the North Sea coast. Then he decided to apply the polluter pays principle consistently. Since then, he has been using the found lumps of tar to make works of art, half of which is used to support the artist and the other half to buy BP shares. The ultimate goal is to acquire enough shares for Koselleck to take over the group.

Koselleck has now accumulated considerable supplies of tar lumps on beaches on the Iberian Peninsula, in Germany and Ireland. These are either exhibited as a kind of landscape garden en miniature in so-called “tea arias” or, liquefied again, used for Koselleck's own kind of “oil painting”: With this painting medium, which alternates between black and various shades of brown, the artist creates gestural abstractions, ironically figurative or pictures on paper and canvas that are purely material-oriented.

The artist received more attention in 2010 when he collected clumps of oil on the occasion of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico after the "Deepwater Horizon" disaster in order to continue the action. Many magazines and television stations around the world became aware of Koselleck, for example a small report about his campaign appeared in the German magazine Stern. In 2011 he was invited to London by the artistic action alliance platform to contribute with his work to the project “Liberate Tate”. This is to try to free the Tate Modern from all sponsorship contracts with oil companies, above all British Petroleum.

Cola crosses

One recycling idea is the series of works on the Cola Crosses, with Koselleck cutting up empty Coca-Cola cans with tin snips. With the metal strips he nailed simple wooden crosses, which resulted in a sculpturally manifested culture crash . Here the religious symbol of Christianity, there the red and white logo of the Coca-Cola group, which is now just as widespread worldwide. In addition, Koselleck brings a global political component into play by varying the series internationally. The artist collects (and has them collect) Coke cans from all over the world, has processed Japanese, Mexican, Russian or Palestinian cans into crosses, which can always be recognized by the different labels. Only the trademark and the shape of the cross remain constant.

Me and Ikea

Koselleck has been working with the global furniture store giant IKEA since 1999 . The artist uses the premises of the furniture stores as exhibition space for himself by placing his own art and self-made photographs in places that have usually already been selected by the furniture store decorators for the presentation of pictures. Koselleck preferably replaces the original photos with photos from his own family album and self-portrayals (e.g. with schnitzel on the bald head). Koselleck has realized his parasitic publications , as he calls them, in 21 different branches, preferably in Germany, but also in England, France and the Netherlands.

Porsche complex

For the work “Porschekomplex” he collects toy cars from the German sports car manufacturer and asks all interested parties to make a “Porsche donation” (which will be acknowledged with signed tire track graphics). Participatory models of art from the 1960s are satirized, as is the striving of parts of the population for this symbol of status and masculinity, from which the artist is no exception. The long-term goal is the accumulation of symbolic capital in the form of 10,000 Porsches , which, as large sculptures in public space, will also cause a real shortage of parking space.

Office card

Together with Stephan US and Oliver Breitenstein , he started the BürokARTie project . This intervention, organized and curated by the three artists, deals with bureaucratic strategies and subversive services. The invited artists, such as B. Heinrich Gartentor , Markus Zürcher , Matthias Schamp , Mark Formanek and Robert Porth present their own view of the beauty of bureaucracy .

Other Projects

In addition to numerous individual works, Koselleck's oeuvre also includes a number of long-term projects, such as the wallpaper diary (since 1997), the office for deflationary measures (since 1998), the fictional character Billy Baypack, brought into being for the purpose of paying fees (since 2003) and the founding of the Berliner Kunstverein (2009)

Together with Susanne von Bülow, he started the t-fiftytwo project in 2012, which combines the unusual printing process with a conceptual approach. First, monotypes were made using ordinary plastic shopping bags, one for each week of the year. These were put up for sale at the price of the family's average weekly food consumption. Then work began on “Land”. In doing so, direct prints of streets, paths and squares are produced on handmade paper using bulldozers and color pigments. The price of these prints is directly related to the respective property price.

Exhibitions (selection)

1997 Supervision, Supervision is a police officer who sticks to a piece of chewing gum. Castle exhibition art academy, Rheine, Lemgo and Dahlheim
1997–2000 supervision, u. a. Basel, Bergamo, ICE 70, Onno, Küstrin, Strasbourg, Vienna, Berlin, Buckow, Dossenheim, Mexico City, Warsaw
1998 From Here, High St. Project Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand
1999 The first photo wallpaper book, Photo Trienale, Künstlerhaus Hamburg
1999 Westwards, Art Association Gütersloh
2000 Life is too short for the wrong job. with Frederik Foert and Stephan Homann at the Kunstverein Bamberg
2000 ART-APPEAL, CAS - contemporary art and spirits, Osaka, Japan
2001 Screenings 07, Museum of Modern Art , Frankfurt
2002 We are not here over for the Weather, Kunstverein Ahlen, Ahlen
2003 PILOT PROJECT Gropiusstadt, Berlin
2003 Text only makes art beautiful, Stuttgarter Kunstverein,
2003 The provisional office, Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster
2005 Munich Art Pavilion
2006 Movement in the Square, Museum Ritter , Waldenbuch
2007 the Cola crosses, Abbey Museum Liesborn Wadersloh
2007 Porsche complex, Scope Basel, Switzerland
2007 Some like it, Museum Eckernförde
2008 excursion 3, Galerie Münsterland, Emsdetten
2008 Parasitic Publications and Hostile Takeovers, Bernsteinzimmer Gallery
2008 Socks on a leash, Berliner Kunstverein
2009 Trial parking, Stuttgart Art Association
2009 Factory exhibition, Umtrieb Gallery, Kiel
2010 Takeover BP Tour - Beaches of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, USA
2011 houses pictures windows, Münster
2011 You buy Kunst - und Ruppe Koselleck BP, LehmbruckMuseum, Duisburg

Scholarships and Awards

2000 Puddles Scholarship, Osaka
2002 Prize of the Westphalian Art Association, Münster
2002 Hörster Fensterpreis, Münster
2004 Eckernförde scholarship, Schleswig-Holstein
2006 scholarship artist village Schöppingen , North Rhine-Westphalia

literature

The beverage can carpet . In: Wewerka Pavillon '99 , writings from the Kunstakademie Münster, Münster 2000, ISBN 3-89770018-2 .
Direttissima . Exhibition project in the urban space of Münster. Writings of the Art Academy Münster, Münster 2001, ISBN 3-928682-28-8 .
Positions on bureaucracy . Catalog Stadthausgalerie Münster. 2003, ISBN 3-935730-09-8 .
"Y", family class . Writings of the Kunstakademie Münster, Münster 2003, ISBN 3-928682-33-4 .
Movement in the square . Exhibition catalog. Museum RITTER, Waldenbuch 2006, ISBN 3-88423-273-8 .
Me and Ikea - Parasitic Publications . Munster 2007.
Style flowers . In: houses pictures windows 2011 , exhibition catalog, Münster 2011.
You buy art - and Ruppe Koselleck BP . Catalog LehmbruckMuseum Duisburg 2012.

personal data
SURNAME	Koselleck, Ruppe
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German concept artist
DATE OF BIRTH	July 18, 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH	Dossenheim