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All TextsCarsten Becker – On the Biography of Things
Elisabeth Sonneck, 2023The pack (das Rudel), 2023, by Berlin-based artist Carsten Becker was first shown in the exhibition Roundtrip – Fluidum #2 at Fabbrica Del Vapore, Milan: a dense assemblage of bottles whose matte, monochrome coloring shifts from dark green tones through brown to golden beige. Becker's work stands in the context of examining National Socialist crimes. The bottles stem from his research into the standardization of everyday objects, inseparably connected to military uses.The Uncanny Beauty of Efficiency
Anika Reineke, 2022At first glance, standards and art seem to be mutually exclusive, as one is, after all, considered the epitome of structure, while the other, by contrast, is regarded as ruleless creation. The work series DIN by Berlin-based artist Carsten Becker is an occasion to look at standardisation in technology and society and to ask about the influence of standards for the people. Anika Reineke locates his works in the history of artistic approaches to repetition, pattern and seriality.Forgotten Colors
Philipp Hindahl, 2018Utility objects do not come by their colors randomly, they are chosen according to standards. In Germany, the RAL standard sets the norm, a collection of colors that meets the requirements of public authorities, the military and industry. In his work, artist Carsten Becker is concerned with the gaps and continuities in this collection. It displays a microcosm of German history.
News
- Review in Art a Part of Cult(ure)
"Working with the aesthetics of power and with components from the domain of war production (from the Second World War to the dynamics of the Cold War), Becker draws on the logic of calculation to activate critical thought."
– Floriana Savino in Art a Part of Cult(ure)Read review (Italian) - Interview on the Podcast Natürliche Ausrede
A conversation about vanished colours, RAL standards, Dark Yellow and Panzer Grey, Rommel's Africa campaign and the TGL colour standards of the GDR.
Podcast (German) - Anne Rabe on my work on Deutschlandfunk Kultur
"The picture speaks to me because I understand what coming to terms with the past means: approaching it, ending up with something, seeing something, recognizing something – but no longer quite reaching it."
– Anne Rabe in her interview on Studio 9 (from 26:45)Listen on Deutschlandfunk Kultur (German)
Upcoming
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