Non-Specific Objects at Capitain Petzel, Berlin leaves us with an understanding of how to resist the conceptual boxes that we’re forced into Non-Specific Objects takes its lead from American sculptor Donald Judd’s 1965 essay ‘Specific Objects’ and its omission of embodied, racial and gender differences by presenting art that continuously refers to them. It brings together works by 11 artists that challenge Judd’s attachment to identifying the essence of sculpture and painting, though, ironically, the show aligns with his observation about artistic categories: whether material, symbolic or linguistic, these are never as solid as they appear. In the way that Judd’s essay reveals the difficulty in defining sculpture and painting, this exhibition challenges conventional ways of interpreting materials and their associations with identity and the body. In David Douard’s BirdZhandzand US´ (2023), for example, an assemblage of objects and consumer materials (xeroxes, chipboard, vinyl tape, etc) centres upon a towering aluminium grille, on which a photographic image shows closeups of a face, hand and ear. Towards its base is a transparent plastic bellylike orb; inside are a large white plastic tongue, tiny plastic hands, flowers and an ink drawing. The assemblage is physical, bodily, but not visceral. While many body parts are present, their combination produces a foreign rather than familiar response.
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