45cbm: Constantin Hartenstein

Turbo Ripper

21.09.–17.11.2019
A screen shows a person speaking while mounted on a light blue, geometric frame.
A person is seen singing into a microphone in a transparent octagonal display with a video screen above.
A transparent semicircular stand with a screen displaying an abstract image of lines and lights.
A floating screen displays an x-ray image within a glass structure.
A monitor displays a dynamic shot of multiple dancers in midair, set against a minimalist pale blue background.
Several professional cameras on tripods facing a glass paneling for synchronized photography.
Specialized professional cameras mounted on tripods with various lenses and accessories.
Specialized camera equipment set up on a dolly track for professional videography.
A person wearing multi-layered black pants poses amidst camera tripods surrounded by mirrors.
A man wearing boxing gloves and boxing shorts stands in a mirrored room, with a camera on a tripod nearby.
A silhouetted man in deep contemplation with his head resting on his arm.

Artist

  • Constantin Hartenstein

Curator

  • Johannes Honeck

Thanks to

Constantin Hartenstein, NARC, 2019, Epoxy Resin, Hot Blood 3.0 Blue Guarana Pre-Workout Booster, LED, Water, Video, 2x2x3m, © Studio Hartenstein, Kunsthalle Baden-Baden

Cinematography: Anne Braun

Actor: Saïd Oulali

Sound Design: Tommi Toivonen

Set Assistance: Marie-Luce Theis, Alexander Wilmschen

With friendly support from

Renate und Waltraut Sick Stiftung, Silikonfabrik, Dipon.de

In his sculptural media work, Constantin Hartenstein examines narcissistic phenomena of a digital society and its fitness and self-optimization industry. The installation "NARC" negotiates the societal pursuit of optimized individuality, which faces lonely homogeneity. Visualizing this paradox, Hartenstein shows how the fitness industry's advertising promises and their alchemy-like products are inscribing themselves into the bodies and behaviors of their users. The porch shrine, cast from protein powder particles, directs the gaze to its inner center: hermetically bounded by mirrors, the figure reminiscent of Narcissus deals only with its mirror image, while he is voyeuristically filmed by a camera. Lost in his own thought, the figure dissolves arrhythmically between the rooms into the luminous particles of his own consumption.

Welcome: Hendrik Bündge

Introduction: Johannes Honeck

Constantin Hartenstein (* 1982) lives and works in Berlin. His works have already been shown at Berlinische Galerie, MoMA New York, GFZK Leipzig and Goethe Institut Peking.