Athen's 487, the Excluded

1 Maastricht, former site of the "Sociéte Céramique Maastricht" factories, 1993

2 Shard, found on-site, 1993

3, 4 Installation at Krings-Ernst Gallery, 277 photographs, 26 glass cases with shards, 2008

Last days of my exhibition “Athens 487, the Excluded  - Photographs and glass cases” until December 13^th, 2008, at Krings-Ernst Gallery, Cologne, Germany. 

The exhibition shows two-hundred-seventy-seven shards. The shards of cups, plates and bowls, collected as small physical artefacts gathered in showcases and pictured and archived as individual photographs of their bottom side, so that the printed mark of the factory label remains visible, are placed symbolically at the center of the work as an amalgamation of history, destruction and exclusion.

The porcelain pieces were found on the site of the Société Céramique in Maastricht shortly after the demolition of the factory buildings in 1993. Maastricht had an extensive ceramics production since 1836, which was ceased in 1969.

Athens’s Ostracism that took place between 487 and 417 BC, a citizen could be expelled from the city for ten years for popularity, as people feared that popularity would be the root of tyranny. The exclusion was decided upon by a vote with shards.

In 1992, representatives of Luxembourg, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, France, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Italy signed the so-called MAASTRICHT TREATY of the European Union, which regulates the EU enlargements.

Or, according to Isaak Luria’s Kabbalah interpretation, an accident in creation happens: two-hundred-eighty-eight sparks plunge down with the particles after the rupture of the jars. Creation has been put in disarray and all creatures are now in exile...

Doris Frohnapfel, Athen 487, die Ausgeschlossenen  -  Fotografien und Vitrinen, 31. August  -  13. Dezember 2008, Krings-Ernst Galerie, Goltsteinstr. 106 /110, 50968 Köln, e-mail. info@kegallery.com, Öffnungszeiten: Di.-Fr. 15.00 - 18.00 , Sa. 12.00-16.00 Uhr u.n.V.