Tobias Spichtig
Die Matratzen
Die Matratzen
12.2.-02.04.2016
Jan Kaps
Jülicherstr 24A
50674 Cologne
www.jan-kaps.com











Images courtesy the artist and Jan Kaps
THE MATTRESSES
It is said that individuals act according to their background. Action is thus placed within a particular
frame, colour or landscape. In much the same way, Tobias Spichtig describes and mounts the various
components of his exhibitions as backgrounds. Backgrounds that are not intended to defne the space,
but rather provide a kind of framework for action for an individual, who is not described in detail. When,
as in earlier exhibitions, visual and acoustic elements come together, the visual component – namely
large-format paintings, which, in the context of the gallery, quickly become the centre of attention – is
taken out of focus and hung loosely in the corner. In such cases, he calls them “backdrops”. The acoustic
element is compiled from an archive of background music; it is either bar music, which he performs
either alone or together with Theresa Patzschke, or clips composed of quotes from flm music. Both
highly present elements (i.e. the volume level of the music and the large format of the paintings) are
thus intended to have as little “actuality” as possible.
frame, colour or landscape. In much the same way, Tobias Spichtig describes and mounts the various
components of his exhibitions as backgrounds. Backgrounds that are not intended to defne the space,
but rather provide a kind of framework for action for an individual, who is not described in detail. When,
as in earlier exhibitions, visual and acoustic elements come together, the visual component – namely
large-format paintings, which, in the context of the gallery, quickly become the centre of attention – is
taken out of focus and hung loosely in the corner. In such cases, he calls them “backdrops”. The acoustic
element is compiled from an archive of background music; it is either bar music, which he performs
either alone or together with Theresa Patzschke, or clips composed of quotes from flm music. Both
highly present elements (i.e. the volume level of the music and the large format of the paintings) are
thus intended to have as little “actuality” as possible.
These two elements in the exhibition in the gallery Jan Kaps in Cologne are represented by the eponymous
mattresses – including further “paintings”, which take the form of bed linens provided friends –
and humanoid sculptures, with cloths stiffened with a material used in aircraft construction, whereby the
clothes are also provided by friends. These two work groups were created successively in the past year.
Both are obviously images of the presence of those not present. As non-present individuals, the slightly
oversized clothing sculptures are also taken out of focus and placed in the background. The mattresses
are, by their very nature, also not the focus of attention, since they are covered by bed linens. Psychological
effects, which could theoretically come into the fore, develop quite differently, depending upon
the viewer’s emotional state; in any event, these effects distinguish us from the artist, who envisions
friends, whereas we see only a certain ghostlike absence. His image, which is laden with affection and
friendship – the friend on the bed, a generally rather peaceful place – is transformed in the eyes of the
viewer into a stranger, to whom one has come too close and is comparable to the unpleasant, preferably
expelled thoughts of presences stored in the mattresses of hotel beds. The construction of intimacy
towards an object has always been one of the tasks of sculpture, and the slightly larger-than-life
scale is a trick of classical sculpture, used to facilitate an intimate view even from a distance, which
would otherwise only be possible from a much closer proximity. This principle borrowed from stone
sculpture, which had to overturn material abstraction by means of many such tricks, is, however, merely
secondary here. In this exhibition, the means of creating a sense of intimacy towards an object are
actually quite simple. What remains, so to speak, is the resulting intimacy within an atmosphere of slight
eeriness, which depicts the actual story that takes place within exhibition against the background of
Tobias Spichtig’s works.
mattresses – including further “paintings”, which take the form of bed linens provided friends –
and humanoid sculptures, with cloths stiffened with a material used in aircraft construction, whereby the
clothes are also provided by friends. These two work groups were created successively in the past year.
Both are obviously images of the presence of those not present. As non-present individuals, the slightly
oversized clothing sculptures are also taken out of focus and placed in the background. The mattresses
are, by their very nature, also not the focus of attention, since they are covered by bed linens. Psychological
effects, which could theoretically come into the fore, develop quite differently, depending upon
the viewer’s emotional state; in any event, these effects distinguish us from the artist, who envisions
friends, whereas we see only a certain ghostlike absence. His image, which is laden with affection and
friendship – the friend on the bed, a generally rather peaceful place – is transformed in the eyes of the
viewer into a stranger, to whom one has come too close and is comparable to the unpleasant, preferably
expelled thoughts of presences stored in the mattresses of hotel beds. The construction of intimacy
towards an object has always been one of the tasks of sculpture, and the slightly larger-than-life
scale is a trick of classical sculpture, used to facilitate an intimate view even from a distance, which
would otherwise only be possible from a much closer proximity. This principle borrowed from stone
sculpture, which had to overturn material abstraction by means of many such tricks, is, however, merely
secondary here. In this exhibition, the means of creating a sense of intimacy towards an object are
actually quite simple. What remains, so to speak, is the resulting intimacy within an atmosphere of slight
eeriness, which depicts the actual story that takes place within exhibition against the background of
Tobias Spichtig’s works.
Ariane Müller