Swiss Art Awards: CKÖ Goes Grid

The conceptualization of space as material is duly captured in CKÖ collectives "Grid" installation at Kunsthalle Arbon, showcased in the Swiss Art Awards exhibition. One-meter battens screwed from the floor to the ceiling magnify a three-dimensional lattice structure, playing on over-optimization and utilitarian maximization.

The Zurich based CKÖ collective is composed of three artists: Georg Krummenacher, Daniel Lütolf, and Sarah Widmer. Their installations are reflective of an uninhibited exploration of space -capturing elements of dimensionality in novel and unusual ways.

The CKÖ collective's installation at the Kunsthalle Arbon plays on a vision of how to functionalize a small 600 square meter room. It is intended to be a depiction of our society's present day obsession with improvement, economizing resources and efficiency.

The geometric pattern that the "Grid" creates is noteworthy. It appears to be an interlacement of cubes within cubes, decreasing in dimensions, till we stretch our imaginations from the tangible woodwork to micro-cubes suspended in the air. The pattern is once fascinating as it is slightly overwhelming, creating a sensation of being "gridlocked." 17,000 screws and 24,000 nodal points give shape to the "Grid."

Through this project, the collective experiments with dimensions, designs and materials. They try to redefine the concept of space through the modern lens of the practical and the optimized. The "Grid" explores a new way in which room and art intersect.
 

Photography: CKÖ