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Exhibition history
creator(s) Maike Grün (conservator)
Thomas Hirschhorn's ’Doppelgarage’ was exhibited at two locations before it was acquired in 2004 by the Friends of the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich for the museum's contemporary art collection.
Hirschhorn originally constructed his ’Doppelgarage’ in 2002 for an eponymous exhibition at Arndt & Partner in Berlin (14 December 2002 – 8 February 2003). Using two of the gallery's rooms as walk-in units – they are connected by an opening – he covered the entire floor surface with PVC sheeting and the surface of the interior walls with painted cardboard panels, hung neon strip-lighting from the ceiling and filled the space with numerous self-made objects and mundane household utensils.
The Berlin gallery space was faithfully reconstructed in the exhibition hall of the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt for the exhibition of 'Doppelgarage' in 2003 (10 December 2003 – 11 January 2004) – but with one important change. Fire regulations required that an emergency exit be cut into the wall of the back room. Further changes became necessary when the environment was exhibited in the Pinakothek der Moderne to mark its acquisition (3 March 2005 – 29 January 2006). Here too, the Berlin gallery space was faithfully reconstructed, however the Pinakothek's temporary exhibition area was not large enough to accommodate the depth of the environment in its original form – it was twenty metres in length. This led to the back room having to be shortened by one metre. In addition, both the entrance and the emergency exit had to be relocated. The artist was consulted about these invasions of the work's integrity – the large, golden, torpedo-like object, for example, underwent considerable shortening – and the changes were carried out by Hirschhorn's assistants with his approval.
The acquisition of Hirschhorn's ’Doppelgarage’ by a public institution marks a break in its somewhat chequered exhibition history now that it is in the keeping of museum professionals. Set-up and presentation of the environment at the Pinakothek der Moderne were designed to establish guidelines for any future exhibitions of the work. This would seem to obviate the need for any further invasions of its integrity. This desirable state of affairs, however, clashes with the understandable wish of the artist to have it exhibited as frequently as possible – conceivably in locations necessitating further changes. This dilemma will have to be addressed on a case-by-case basis.
PHOTO: Reconstruction of the Berlin gallery space in the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, February 2005 (Bianca Ratajczak)
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