so und so / this way and that

This work by Timm Ulrichs is as much a cryptic confrontation with abstract constructivist sculpture as it is a commentary on the design of the most basic equipment of civilization: the table and chair. This way and that can be viewed, turned, and rotated however you please. It’s made of two identically sculpted pieces on top of each other, and is exactly the same upside down as it is right side up.
The sculpture features themes that are central to Timm Ulrichs’s work: a confrontation with art, its function, and traditions; as well as a preoccupation with the every day, the object, its form, and the language used to discuss it. This “total artist” has worked in nearly all conceivable formats and materials.
This way and that is connected to a larger group of works that focus on furniture, such as A Chair And Its Shadow Stepping Out of The Dark (Peter Schlemihl’s Chair) (1968/1980), or The first chair sitting down (relaxing after standing for a long time) (1970).
The geometric design and use of rusted corton steel, a material popular in constructive art, immediately make clear that this work presents a sharp commentary on public art.