“Rafael is fascinated by the artefacts of everyday life. He works with found objects and transforms them in order to question our habitual ways of seeing and perceiving. […] The Jury recognizes the compelling simplicity of the sculptural objects, which hover as humorous, disruptive ready-mades between signification and possible transformation.”
Annette Amberg, Jury Statement (translated),
Aargauer Kuratorium
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still

mecha

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ohne Titel (Tonne)

ohne Titel (Tonne)
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Object with mechanism
Found footage, mixed media
202 x 45 x 16 cm
2022
Chairs
Modified objects
Found footage, various dimensions
Part of Early Traps series
2019 – ongoing

chair (V), installation view at Art Quarter Budapest

chair (V)

chair (V) at House of Losing Control, VAW 21

chair (V), installation view at Art Quarter Budapest

chair (III), installation view at House of Losing Control, VAW 21

chair (III)

chair (III), installation view at House of Losing Control, VAW 21

chairs, installation view at Kunstraum SUPER

chairs, installation view at AQ Budapest

chairs, installation view at Vienna Art Week 21

chairs, installation view at Kunstraum SUPER

chair (XI), installation view at House of Losing Control, VAW 21

chair (XI), installation view at House of Losing Control, VAW 21

chair (XI), installation view at House of Losing Control, VAW 21

chair (I), installation view at U10 Belgrade

chair (I)

chair (I), installation view at Art Quarter Budapest

chair (I), installation view at U10 Belgrade

chair (X)

chair (X)

chair (IV), installation view at House of Losing Control, VAW21

chair (IV), installation view at House of Losing Control, VAW21

chair (VII), installation view at Art Quarter Budapest

chair (VII)

chair (VII)

chair (VII), installation view at Art Quarter Budapest

chair (II), installation view at Art Quarter Budapest

chair (II)

detail, version KR Super

chair (II), installation view at Art Quarter Budapest

chair (IX)

chair (IX), installation view at Art Quarter Budapest

chair (XII)

chair (IX)
Parallel zur setup Serie, bei der vor Ort gefundene Gegenstände künstlerisch adaptiert werden, entstand die Werkserie Chairs. Bei den Ausgangsobjekten handelt es sich um verlassene Sessel, welche einst privat oder kommerziell genutzt wurden. Deren Funktionalität wird gestört, ihre mangelnde Tragfähigkeit durch Modifikationen endgültig in ein anderes Potential überführt.
Dabei interessiert mich die Transformation der Objekte: Was kann ein Sessel noch, wenn er nicht mehr dem Sitzen dient? Welches skulpturale und performative Potential steckt in den Formen der Sitzgelegenheiten, inwiefern sind Komfort, Armlehnen und Klappmechanismen miteinander verbunden? Welche Kräfte wirken dabei, welche Verhältnisse lassen sich abzweigen, wann wird das Material müde?
Nach der Bearbeitung werden die modifizierten Objekte performt und dabei abgefilmt. Die Performance dient vor allem dazu, Form und Bewegungspotential der Sessel aufzunehmen. Dabei ist der gesamte Handlungsspielraum relevant, vom sitzen, verschieben, zusammenklappen, stapeln bis zum überziehen. Um auf dieses vorhandene, gespannte Potential der Objekte aufmerksam zu machen ist Video ein wesentlicher Bestandteil der Arbeit: als Dokumentation, welche die im Raum stehenden Möglichkeiten aufgreift und das scheitern jeglicher Sitzbemühungen zeigt, aber unkommentiert lässt. In einem Loop spielt es auf die Zeitlosigkeit der Sessel an, die ewig zusammen- und wieder aufgeklappt werden.
Chairs sind stille Zeugen und es bleibt offen, wann und von wem sie demnächst ausgelöst werden. Sie stehen unter Spannung, als würden sie selbst dem Video zuschauen, während sie andererseits BesucherInnen dazu einladen, vielleicht doch auf ihnen Platz nehmen zu versuchen.
English
Chairs as objects emerged during previous interventions, adapting abandoned armchairs and folding chairs, which were used in private or commercial settings before becoming obsolete. Their functionality is disrupted, and their limited load-bearing capacity is ultimately transformed through modifications into a different kind of potential.
My interest lies in the transformation of these objects: What else can a chair do when it no longer serves as a place to sit? What sculptural and performative potential remains within its forms?
What forces come into play, what relationships can be diverted – and at what point does the material grow tired?
Following their modification, the objects are activated through performance and filmed. This activation primarily serves to capture the potential for movement within the objects. The entire range of possible actions is therefor relevant, from sitting, shifting, folding and stacking to pulling over. The video serves as a form of documentation that explores the possibilities present in a space, showing the failure of every attempt to sit, yet leaving it uncommented upon. Played in a loop, it evokes the timelessness of the chairs, which are endlessly folded and unfolded.
And there is also a "bear version" of the video..
Chairs are silent witnesses, and it remains open as to when, and by whom, they will next be set in motion. They stand under tension, as if watching the video themselves, while at the same time inviting visitors to perhaps attempt to take a seat after all.


video
if you invite a bear to dance its not you who decides about the music, 2020


images
Dogs I (Bow-wow), 2020. Installation view and in action at Stiege 13, Vienna. Photos © Helmut Heiss

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Innenleben geht über die Strasse, 2019

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images
More modified objects from the series. Studio views

Doormat, from the series 5 Easy Switches

Doormat, from the series 5 Easy Switches

Doormat, from the series 5 Easy Switches

Doormat, from the series 5 Easy Switches
images & video
Modified objects from the series
5 Easy Switches, studio views