PARIS, Sep 30, 2008 / FW/ — When Helmut Lang retired from the fashion in 2005 after he sold his eponymous label to Prada, fashionistas, including this journalist never lost hope that he will be back on the scene. He is back, but not in fashion, but art.
Collaborating with Absolut Vodka, Helmut Lang is launching his ‘ALLES GLEICH SCHWER’ art exhibit online. This, a bold new exhibition of artworks, will be brought to a global audience as part of the artist’s vision of an ABSOLUT WORLD, eradicating traditional barriers between viewer and art, consumer and gallery – accessible to all for a three month period through WWW.ABSOLUT.COM/HELMUTLANG.
Designed to be able to look at the artwork in 360 degrees, the online platform allows art to live beyond physical space and outside the strain of location. Here, users will be able to get under the skin of the art – move it, rotate it, almost virtually cradle it.
Moreover, in a ground-breaking exploration of the Internet as a creative medium, visitors to ABSOLUT.COM/HELMUTLANG will be able to exclusively download and print limited edition high-res exhibition posters, with no requirements needed other than an Internet connection.
This desire to work with the web’s inherently self-regulating methodology is key to Lang’s vision, as he states, “I’m interested in the virtual platform because of its relatively democratic nature and specifically to be independent from time or geographic boundaries.”
Here, users have “equal access to the same information” and are afforded “the unique experience of viewing art in an isolated manner, which also has its interesting side.”
“Alles Gleich Schwer” previewed at the prestigious kestnergesellschaft in Hannover as Helmut Lang’s first solo institutional art exhibition, curated by Frank Thorsten Moll and Neville Wakefield.
The exhibition marks Lang’s move away from the physical body’s articulation through clothes towards an understanding and examination of the object. Drawing on references as diverse as the folkloric rites of maypole ceremonies and the exploration of surrogate skin, Lang has created a series of visual pieces that integrate an intimate knowledge of the human form with the personal mythologies and abstract arrangements of the world at large.
WWW.ABSOLUT.COM/HELMUTLANG will be on view from September 30th – December 31st.
“Alles Gleich Schwer” will be on view at the kestnergesellschaft August 31st – November 2nd.
www.kestner.org
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