Some of Hanne Darboven’s work is getting displayed for the first time in 20 years at Galerie Crone in Berlin.“Evolution Leibniz” showcases the artist (1941-2009) who was inspired by arithmetic, history and systems of classification.The exhibition, like those last year, shows how the artist translated personal experience into a complex system of plans, codes and constructs. Darboven’s “Konstruktionen” (1966-67, ink, pen and pencil on graph paper, pasted on cardboard) is a collection of abstract lines, placed at angles, forming geometrical shapes. While seemingly impossible to be transformed into real life sculptures, those designs were nevertheless used by her as basis for her minimalist three dimensional works.In the titular monumental “Evolution Leibniz” (1986, ink, screen print, photographs and collage on paper), Darboven presents a series of almost identical “postcards,” each relating to one day in a year. In Darboven’s work, time is not an intangible experience but a system of connotations, rationalized and put in numerical order.While such systematic approach to the passing of days might give off the impression of having absolute control over the course of time, Darboven places a chilling reminder of the transiency of human life at the core of her artwork. Some of the “postcards” present an image of a skeleton next to an antique porcelain toilette.Darboven draws her inspiration from the philosophy of 18th-century Enlightenment, which postulated that life is a rational, measurable force. While being attracted to the idea of life as a flawless design, Darboven’s works convey a sense of disbelief and ironic detachment in their orderly structures.Hanne Darboven – “Evolution Leibniz” runs at Galerie Crone, Rudi-Dutschke-Straße 26, 10969 Berlin from April 30 until June 18, 2016. For more information, see http://galeriecrone.com/
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