For its inaugural edition, Berlin-based artist Young-jun Tak presents two recent films, Wish You a Lovely Sunday (2021) and Wohin? (2022), which will play in a loop in the galleries. Both shot in Berlin, these works consider how place, architecture, movement, and belief inform community and queerness.
Wish You a Lovely Sunday (2021) juxtaposes two locations in Berlin: the church Kirche am Südstern and the queer club SchwuZ. Invited by the artist, two choreographers and two dancers were paired to create a new choreography for each space and assigned a different Bach piano piece for four hands. After days of rehearsals and once the choreography was complete, their originally designated venues were swapped for the filming. The participants therefore had to adapt their choreographies spontaneously according to the architectural features and atmosphere of the other space. By setting these two sites in dialogue, Tak proposes an improbable coexistence of religious practice and club culture.
Tak is intrigued by the similarities between churches and clubs because they both involve specific rituals, behavioral norms, and attitudes closely linked to the space and its role. Over the course of Wish You a Lovely Sunday, the combination of the characters’ bodily presence and their navigation of their respective surroundings starts to shift the meaning of each location, eventually revealing tensions that were not apparent on the surface. In the church, the pair’s game of looking or not looking at one another while roaming around the columns and altar expresses unmistakable sensations of longing and desire, denial and prohibition.
In the film Wohin? (2022)—“Where to?” in German—the camera focuses on the rearview mirrors of cars that are driving on the Autobahn near Berlin. Throughout the film, various objects hung from the mirrors of each car become visible in the frame, from Christian rosaries and Buddhist prayer beads to a typical German air freshener, Wunderbaum. The rearview mirrors also reflect situations taking place on the back seat: a man gazes out of the window, checks his phone, or dozes off; two men kiss romantically. Prior to filming, Tak spoke with the actors about the many facets of the German Autobahn—an ideological project of the Third Reich and a feat of national infrastructure, as well as a playground for the projections of hypermasculinity, and a significant site for gay cruising. These mixed aspects are reinforced by the soundtrack, which pairs organist Andreas Sieling from the Berlin Cathedral with British countertenor Tim Morgan, who together reinterpret Kraftwerk’s legendary song “Autobahn” from 1974. While Sieling is peddling away at his huge organ with over 7,000 pipes, some of which are thirteen meters long, Morgan repeats the simple lyric “autobahn” in his fluid, high-pitched song, in contrast to the organ’s mechanical and militaristic rhythm.
The series Double Feature is curated by Line Ajan & Lisa Long.
About the Artist
Young-jun Tak (b. 1989 in Seoul, South Korea) examines sociocultural and psychological mechanisms that shape belief systems. Mixing media, techniques, and subject matter, Tak pursues obfuscation as a mode of critique. In his videos, sculptures, and installations, Tak often exposes human bodies in the context of polarizing norms and conventions. Tak has had solo exhibitions at Wanås Konst (Knislinge, Sweden, 2023), O—Overgaden (Copenhagen, 2023), Efremidis (Berlin, 2022), SOX (Berlin, 2022), and Fragment (Moscow, 2021). He has participated in international exhibitions such as the Lyon Biennale (2022), the Berlin Biennale (2020), and the Istanbul Biennial (2017), among others. He currently lives and works in Berlin.
About the Julia Stoschek Foundation
The JULIA STOSCHEK FOUNDATION is a non-profit organization dedicated to the public presentation, advancement, conservation, and scholarship of time-based art. With two public exhibition spaces located in Berlin and Düsseldorf that feature cutting-edge media and performance practices, the foundation stewards one of the world’s most comprehensive private collections of time-based art.
With over 900 artworks by 300 artists from around the globe, the JULIA STOSCHEK COLLECTION spans video, film, single- and multi-channel moving image installation, multimedia environments, performance, sound, and virtual reality. Photography, sculpture, and painting supplement its time-based emphasis. The collection’s contemporary focus is rooted in artists’ moving image experiments from the 1960s and ’70s.
General Information
Location
JSF Berlin Leipziger Strasse 60, 10117 Berlin
JSF Düsseldorf Schanzenstrasse 55, 40549 Düsseldorf
Duration
3 September – 17 December 2023, JSF Düsseldorf
14 September – 17 December 2023, JSF Berlin
Opening
13 September 2023, 6–10 p.m., JSF Berlin
Opening hours
Sunday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., JSF Düsseldorf
Saturday and Sunday, 12–6 p.m., JSF Berlin
SPECIAL OPENING HOURS DURING BERLIN ART WEEK: 14–17 September, 12–6 p.m.
Admission
Free admission, JSF Düsseldorf
5 Euro, JSF Berlin
Barrier-free access
JSF Düsseldorf: The building is accessible for those with wheelchairs or prams. If you would like to use the lift to travel between the floors of the exhibition space, just ask our service staff and they will be happy to assist you. JSF Berlin: Access to the presentation is barrier-free. The exhibition “Unbound”, which takes place parallelly, is presented on the ground floor and the second floor of the Julia Stoschek Foundation Berlin. Access to the upper floor is not barrier-free. For visits with wheelchairs or strollers, please register in advance via visit.berlin@jsfoundation.art to ensure access.
Guided tour in German
JSF Düsseldorf: twice a month on Sundays, 12 p.m. JSF Berlin: Sundays, 3 P.M.
Guided tour in English
Saturdays, 3 P.M. Register at www.jsfoundation.art
Price: EUR 10.00 per person, free of charge for children and people under 18 years of age, as well as school children, students, and trainees.
Guided tours for groups
Price: EUR 20.00 per person for groups of 10 people or more (including admission fee). Tours for students and school pupils are free of charge. Please inquire for guided tours for groups by email at visit.berlin@jsfoundation.art.
Register at www.visitjuliastoschekcollection.as.me/schedule.php
WEBSITE www.jsfoundation.art
