{"id":56560,"date":"2023-02-01T05:34:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-01T04:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=56560"},"modified":"2025-06-22T17:40:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T16:40:21","slug":"birke-gorm-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/birke-gorm-exhibition\/","title":{"rendered":"Birke Gorm exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/birkegormsmall.jpg\" alt=\"Blurred image of canvas bag\" class=\"wp-image-56581\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/birkegormsmall.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/birkegormsmall-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Figures built of jute bags and scrap sit against the walls in this exhibition of Birke Gorm&#8217;s sculptures at the MAK museum. Yet they still take us on a journey into both the past and the sociopolitics of gender roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Nine main figures<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Metaphors and layers of interpretation abound<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Runs Feb 1 to Jun 25, 2023<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/mak\/\">MAK museum overview and info<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/events\/exhibitions\/#modernart\">Contemporary art exhibitions<\/a> in Vienna<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">dead stock<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/birkegorm1.jpg\" alt=\"View of two sculptures by Birke Gorm\" class=\"wp-image-56579\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/birkegorm1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/birkegorm1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(MAK Exhibition View, 2023, BIRKE GORM: dead stock, MAK Gallery; press photo \u00a9 kunst-dokumentation.com\/MAK)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contemporary art is largely uncharted territory for me. But one of the joys of exploring the output of today&#8217;s artists is discovering the themes and messages that lie behind works that may not reveal their secrets through casual inspection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thought is often required (a terrifying prospect at my age, but strangely energising, too).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, the <em>dead stock<\/em> exhibition at the MAK features sculptures by the Hamburg-born artist, Birke Gorm, who now wields her artistic skills in Vienna. With considerable success, as evidenced by a 2020 Strabag Art Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gorm&#8217;s installation confronts us with anthropomorphic figures constructed largely from jute bags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We also see smaller sculptures, built from scrap metal and wired up to bulbs that serve as the exhibition&#8217;s light source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Viewed from a distance in that low light, you gain the impression of workers at the end of a shift, perhaps at a 19th-century cotton mill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The figures themselves sit with arms crossed. Observant? Protective? Defiant? The presentation certainly invites different interpretations.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/birkegorm2.jpg\" alt=\"View of the MAK's Birke Gorm exhibition\" class=\"wp-image-56580\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/birkegorm2.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/birkegorm2-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(MAK Exhibition View, 2023, BIRKE GORM: dead stock, MAK Gallery; press photo \u00a9 kunst-dokumentation.com\/MAK)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The materials used, for example, are those often found discarded as valueless. Russet rebars from broken concrete might serve as feet. Perhaps an old set of pliers or a scythe as hands. Knitted slivers of newspaper as stuffing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus we have a layer of environmentalism concerning themes such as recycling and resource use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Collecting leftovers and putting them to good use also harks back to the days when (mostly) women would follow the harvesters and &#8220;glean&#8221; what was left behind. As such, the figures invite us to reconsider the worth of abandoned materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Equally, that same concept hints at the undervalued (and unpaid) domestic work traditionally carried out through history by women, also through their role in giving new life to old material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This patriarchal gender hierarchy gains added resonance through the figures&#8217; bag heads and pockets. Such accessories were long limited to men and served as both a physical and conceptual expression of their privileged position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Jute itself also carries the weight of sociopolitical history, given the trade in the fibre associated with the &#8220;activities&#8221; of the British Empire in places such as Bengal.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As such, the installation deserves time to contemplate. So, yes, thought is required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"tickets\">Dates, tickets &amp; tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Enjoy Birke Gorm&#8217;s transformations of scrap material from February 1st to June 25th, 2023. Any entrance ticket for or from the MAK includes access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the MAK&#8217;s focus remains on design, the museum&#8217;s special exhibitions inevitably and often merge with contemporary art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pop into the MAK Forum part of the building, for example, to see a fascinating, multisensory installation by Sonja B\u00e4umel for much of the same period as the Birke Gorm exhibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two lovely (and largely concurrent) MAK &#8220;design&#8221; exhibitions are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/the-fest-exhibition\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"54644\">THE FEST<\/a> (ends May 7th, 2023) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/folds-exhibition\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"56423\">FOLDS<\/a> (ends May 21st, 2023), both also including works by contemporary artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get there<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Check the travel tips on the main <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/mak\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"7100\">MAK page<\/a>. Drop down to the Design Lab level and go right to find the gallery room that hosts Birke Gorm&#8217;s works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: Stubenring 5, 1010 Vienna<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1G1JqCaIFJT9xk7v01SX4IL93otIsKj2D\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Figures built of jute bags and scrap sit against the walls in this exhibition of Birke Gorm&#8217;s sculptures at the MAK museum. Yet they still take us on a journey into both the past and the sociopolitics of gender roles. dead stock (MAK Exhibition View, 2023, BIRKE GORM: dead stock, MAK Gallery; press photo \u00a9 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56581,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-56560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-museums","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56560"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84286,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56560\/revisions\/84286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}