Gregor Hildebrandt: Coming by Hazard
Coming by Hazard represents the first solo exhibition of Gregor Hildebrandt in Hong Kong.
The coming by hazard doormat is an apt signifier for Hildebrandt‘s work.
The doormat, like the vinyl records, VHS and cassette tapes that lie at the foundation of his work, is a lyrical recording device. It acts as a portal into another space, compressing time, grime, and memory into an object that . By placing this “poetic” object at the threshold, Hildebrandt is transporting the audience into a cryptic simulation of his home life.
Visual patterns from everyday objects offer a glimpse into his home, inspirations, and personal relationships. They are transformed into positive/negative cassette tape paintings: a handbag, a blouse, a breakfast-in-bed tray, and a book by Martin Luther.
Hildebrandt highlights the “spiritual quest for the infinite along the vertical axis mundi, connecting the earth & the celestial vault”, as formally articulated by Brancusi in 1918, and in a version of an “endless column” formed with molded vinyl records that appear to stack like musical warped galaxies.
A quasi-religious Pieta-like photograph of Hildebrand’s head resting in the lap of his partner, the artist Alicja Kwade, adds to the themes of love, romance, and security within the sacred home. The fragility of the image, and by extension, his relationship and all relationships, is heightened as one realizes upon closer inspection that the single image is held together in a cabinet by, and the sum of, a multitude of layers of tiny cassette boxes.
Hildebrandt has created another new photograph of the renowned romantic comedy theatre work, Le Jeu de L’Amour et du Hasard (The Game of Love and Chance). By shooting it in the reflection of one of his Spiegel (Mirror) Paintings and flipping the mirrored image in Photoshop, the photograph then becomes the invitation poster.
This referential hall of mirrors continues as the black magnetic tape of an unspooled VHS copy of a performance of Le Jeu de L’Amour et du Hasard is transformed into an all-enveloping, elegant wall curtain which wraps the entire exhibition space. A tightly wound, painstakingly produced cassette tape wheel painting brings the exhibition literally and figuratively full circle; by chance I discovered the magnetic tape for recording sound was invented in Germany by Fritz Pfleumer in 1928, and developed in this fashion. Once again, we pass through a time portal to Hildebrandt’s heritage.
Hildebrandt’s work is lyrical and poetic, speaking in tongues without making a sound. Coming by Hazard recites themes of romance and home within collective memory consciousness connected by chance across generations of time and space. It is open and inviting: come as you are, or come by hazard, it may or may not be up to you.
