Michael Kos


Lazarett, 2005 – 2006 (stones, wire, medical instruments)

In Michael Kos' installation, there is actually no thread in the sense of a soft material, a twist of fibres spun around its axis. On the basis of metal structures, or wires, to put it simply, we can make mental associations to thread, for the technique of sewing was obviously used in the process of work. The essential element of Kos' installation is stone. Classical chemistry defines stone as an inorganic substance, but in Kos' installation it acquires new dimensions: on the one hand it points to transcendental worlds and theories, while on the other hand it could be understood at the entirely basic level of the relationship between the artist and the material of creation. Every sculptor – a man or a woman – cultivates a special, very intimate and respectful relationship with his material, in which he can materialise his ideas and thus to realise himself.
In this context, the work entitled Lazarett could be understood as the artist's bow to the traditional sculptural material: an unworked stone, or stone blocks. The surgical ambience of
the installation is a platform for questioning the (non)vitality of this material. Smaller and bigger pieces of stone, more or less ridged, are obviously treated as organic tissues; a soul is thus breathed into the non-living structure and understood as the personified basis of the installation. At the same time, the role of the artist bowing to the material is an ironic and humorous reference to the role of saviour. The furrows are sewn as a surgeon would stitch human tissue; the stones are connected to a respirator and are getting an infusion – the artist's installation
also hints at the transcendental spheres of comprehending organic and inorganic worlds.

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Born in 1963 in Villach (Austria). Between 1986 and 1991 he studied under Peter Weibel at the High School for Applied Arts in Vienna. He lives and works as a sculptor and writer in Vienna, Austrian Carinthia and Lower Austria.

Solo exhibitions (selection):

2006 ENFORCED LINE, Galerie Gambit, Prag
2005 SIDE-SEEING, Museum Schloss Bruck, Lienz
2004 DINGE, AN SICH, Galerie Freihausgasse, Villach
2002 ICH WUSSTE IMMER, DASS KUNST SATT MACHT, Kulturzentrum bei den Minoriten, Graz
2001 FETTE TRÄNKE, Künstlerhaus Klagenfurt

Group exhibitions (selection):

2007 VERTAUSCHT, DOK Zentrum für moderne Kunst NÖ, St. Pölten
2006 ÖSTERREICH 1900-2000, Sammlung Essl, Klosterneuburg
NEW CHOICE, Nova Sin, Prag
2005 CROSSOVER 2, Künstlerhaus Klagenfurt, in Zusammenarbeit mit Mira Narobe
1999/2000 SOZIALMASCHINE GELD, Centrum für Gegenwartskunst, Linz

www.michaelkos.net