Using elements of kinetics and robotics, Liebl and Schmid-Pfähler create sculptures and installations that explore the effects of technical developments on aesthetic and social aspects of life. In their works, material qualities of a visual and haptic nature are just as important as programmed processes, algorithms and physical laws.
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Using elements of kinetics and robotics, Liebl and Schmid-Pfähler create sculptures and installations that explore the effects of technical developments on aesthetic and social aspects of life. In their works, material qualities of a visual and haptic nature are just as important as programmed processes, algorithms and physical laws.
Both artists studied in the class of Ulrike Gabriel and afterwards in the class of Julika Rudelius at the Offenbach University of Art and Design. As a duo, they graduated with distinction in 2017 and received their diplomas in Electronic Art under Prof. Julika Rudelius and in Sociology and Theory of Media under Prof. Dr. Marc Ries.
Liebl and Schmid-Pfähler founded the interdisciplinary studio house "Atelier Wäscherei". As part of a group of nine artists, they have converted the abandoned building of a former Offenbach laundry on their own initiative. Since 2019, it has offered a diverse community of artists space for encounters and individual work, is the nucleus of interdisciplinary group projects and regularly opens up as a venue for events to a broad public.
Carolin Liebl und Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler, Kunstarkaden Kempten, 2020
WIR|ES, CADORO – Centre for art and science, Mainz, 2018
Feeling cosmic microwave background (mit/with Malte Sänger), Luis Leu, Karlsruhe, 2017
Amplified Entity, 1822 Forum der Stiftung der Frankfurter Sparkasse, Frankfurt am Main, 2016
ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medien, Karlsruhe
Van der Koelen-Stiftung für Kunst und Wissenschaft, Mainz
WRO Art Center, Wrocław, PL
At the beginning of the performative installation RE:PLACES, the space is already characterised by sculptures with expressive shapes and colours. On closer inspection, the objects show properties that seem untypical of their materiality - massive plastic that forms multicoloured, abstract structures and sometimes throws bubbles at the surface. The chunks, which consist of different types of plastic, originate from industrial production, where they arise as waste products from the cleaning of machines.
Moving through this scenery is a complex construction reminiscent of a planetary lander on three legs. In a branched funnel system, it transports different coloured granules made from plastic waste. The plastic material is heated and compressed in a cylindrical extruder in the centre of the robot and swells out as a colourful mass. The hot material curves and twists until it cools and solidifies into its final form. In creative processes lasting several minutes, the 1.70m high robot sheds the plastic objects and spreads them around the exhibition space like three-dimensional brush strokes.
The result is a variety of intertwined forms with glass-like surfaces and fascinating colour transitions - material properties that are not usually associated with plastic. The visual and haptic experiences enable an intuitive and aesthetic approach to the thematic complex around plastic and its problematic use. A new perspective on the materiality is stimulated to promote public discourse on plastics.
The title of the installation RE:PLACES is short for ‘Recycling PLA Closed-Circuit Extrusion Shaper’. The objects created during an exhibition can serve as raw material again and thus close the cycle.
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The work was realised within the framework of the EMARE programme of the "European Media Art Platform" at FACT with the support of the "Creative Europe Culture Programme" of the European Union.
The research was supported within the framework of the duo’s EASTN-DC Residency at Cardiff Metropolitan University with support by the Creative Europe Culture Programme of the European Union.
