Page 37 - Katalog Beyond the Box 820 final.indd

Here follows a brief explainer of the structure of the NAK‘s Two- and of which more than half actually ended up in the Twodo Collec-
do. Following an idea of Marcel Duchamp, in 1998 Wilhelm Schür- tion in Aachen. From this collection Dohmen acquired the painting
mann had encouraged members of the NAK to collectively acquire ‚Fireflies – The Bombing of Baghdad‘, whose dramatic content had
a multipartite artwork each year, in addition to annual contributions not been recognised at all by those on the scene at the time. Chin
to the financing of the Kunstverein‘s management. This sustainable always seeks out social, ecological or political problem areas for his
building up of a joint collection has proven its worth for years and, work, especially in the USA, and imaginatively and constructively
in addition to the support, gives the NAK the opportunity to intro- intervenes in person with artistic proposals. That way, he contribu-
duce and thus promote remarkable artist personalities. ted with an astonishing artistic measure to the renaturation of soil
in New Orleans, which had been contaminated with lead by hurri-
Renowned artists such as Johannes Wohnseifer, Fareed Armaly and cane Katrina in 2005. He also participated in a large-scale venture
Daniel Roth have by now joined the ranks. As this exhibition shows, in the battered industrial city of Detroit with the project S.P.O.R.E.
this art organisation is also a gain for Werner Dohmen, who has to renovate run-down buildings and put them to new use. He took
been the NAK‘s chairman for over 30 years. The idea that the who- building paper, normally used as insulation material, from one of
le is worth more than the sum of its parts carries from the artworks the houses and, using a hot needle, drew a design for converting
through to the Twodos themselves, in their joint actions and expe- the house into a farm for the cultivation of gourmet mushrooms.
riences relating to the NAK. The stages from original state of the house to dining table are easily
traced on the basis of five sheets.
The acquisition of art began in 2002/03 with a spectacular action.
Schürmann contacted the renowned artist Mel Chin. Together with In stark contrast, Mariana Castillo Deball turns to the sciences, spe-
the artists‘ collective Gala Committee, the American had the idea of cifically natural sciences as well as history and mythology. She traces
smuggling a number of artworks as props into the soap opera ‘Mel- historical references, as in her exhibition of the history of Hamburg
rose Place’ during 1997/98. There were around 120 pieces, which Railway Station, and that, of all things, on the basis of a number of
were sold in a charity auction at Sotheby‘s in California after filming neglected episodes and details. Her production revealed historical

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