Photo by Gergely László. The Blue Room runs at DECAD, Kreuzberg, through Sep 21.
Berlin-based Hungarian artist duo Gergely Laszlo and Peter Rakosi aka Tehnica Schweiz present an installation of film and ceramics in DECAD’s small shop front gallery. The film is a gentle tracking shot of the interior of an 18th century synagogue in Tata, Hungary, set to a rousing soundtrack of original music nodding to both ancient Hebrew and Greek melodies. Moving between large white plaster casts of classical sculptures and reliefs, it documents the last days of the synagogue as home to this 19th century collection from the Hungarian Museum of Fine Arts. Gradually the space is turned into a workshop for students who make small ceramic versions of the sculptures. We see these displayed in the gallery, laid out on a two tiered Wedgewood Blue table reminiscent of the synagogue’s own interior architecture. In a meta flourish the film creates an infinity mirror effect with a shot of the ceramics in front of the casts. Finally, museum technicians move in to dismantle the plaster casts and pack them into crates. Elegantly juggling neoclassicism with themes of replication and reproduction, this exhibition is a neat reminder that nothing we see is truly new.
The Blue Room | Through Sep 21, DECAD, Kreuzberg