An Exhibition as a Copy

Entitled An Exhibition as a Copy, Michael Müller’s exhibition at Galerie du Monde in Hong Kong in 2018 consisted of four pairs or groups of similar exhibits that investigate the duality of the original and the copy. The juxtaposition of the peculiarities of the artworks’ surfaces underscored the form as well as instigated a dialogue with each other; it also allowed for deviations to stand out. The relationship between model and reproduction, original and copy thus became increasingly unclear.

The meticulous pairings of works focused on the relationship between the original and the copy in an exemplary way: two almost identical, monumental though intricate drawings depicting a stain on Michael Müller’s studio floor, irreproducible in detail; a small, pastose relief and its adjacent 3-D printed copy; and a figurine of a wolf-like monster including a 3-D printed duplicate. For this occasion, the gallery specially transformed its space to replicate the exhibition setting where Müller’s works typically incorporate elements of surface and ground. For instance, Do it! (Setting Up History) #7 and #8 (both 2016) consist of monochrome, pastose paintings that were painted in the shade of the gray wall on which they are presented.

The Himmelheber is a series that Michael Müller has been working on since 2017, in which he also strives to unveil more extensive details of this new form of life in the coming years. According to Müller, the Himmelheber have died out and been reborn innumerable times. Consequently, many of their artefacts are preserved in multiple versions, copies and adaptations. The little information Müller provides on the Himmelheber compelled the visitors to their ‘free’ interpretation.

With texts by Vivien Chow, Johan Holten and Lukas Töpfer
Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong 2018
203 pages, 114 illustrations in color and b/w
German, English and Chinese
ISBN 978-988-77009-5-1