Birgit Werressamples for pieces – maybe

The enigmatic object worlds of Birgit Werres – Industrially prefabricated things dominate the work of Birgit Werres (*1962), yet they undergo heterogeneous combinations as the artist adds elements she has made herself. Birgit Werres finds her materials in industrial storage yards and production sites, where she is a constant guest. There she comes across the things that arouse her aesthetic interest. Her perception has been schooled over many years; her studies at the academy first led her to Tony Cragg before she completed them with Irmin Kamp. She carries out her repurposing of profane objecthood in series, layerings or combinations of materials. In such works the artist repeatedly pursues formal characteristics such as volume, texture or structure. An outstanding role is often played here by the signal-like inherent colour of the materials she uses. This frequently runs counter to the monumental physicality of the objects and further mystifies the origin, function and properties of the material. As references for her unconventional sculptures and installations, colleagues from Robert Smithson, Barry Le Va and Richard Artschwager to Richard Serra are readily invoked. The new volume in the Kienbaum Artists‘ Books, however, she has deliberately titled “samples for pieces – maybe”; here she lines up found objects, each finer than the last, some squashed, pressed or simply crushed a little – they could, if she (or they) wanted, become something!