The site specificity of the Allora + Calzadilla exhibition at Temporäre Kunsthalle is indeed one of its strongest suits. The blue and white Lego block of a building is perched on edge of the Spree where the socialist architectural marvel Palast der Republik once stood. Built on the site of the Berliner Stadtschloss which was badly damaged in World War II and demolished by the GDR despite fervent protests by West Germans, Palast der Republik housed the East German Parliament as well as myriad leisure and entertainment facilities. The building was torn down after Germany’s reunification when it was found to be ridden with asbestos. In their two new works, Allora + Calzadilla grapple with the legacy of  Temporäre Kunsthalle’s location in a manner that is both elliptical and visceral.

For their site specific installation, Compass,  the viewer is led into a large dimly lit room. The only sound in the hazy yellow space is tap-dancing coming from the ceiling. According to the artists, “The performer is like a specter...a rhythmic and poetic means of communication with the public below.” The emptiness of the exhibition hall not only evokes the void left by the Stadtschloss/Palast der Republik, but also mirrors the vast pockets of unused, deserted space throughout the city. The dancer’s clacking, punctuated with long stretches of silence, is both claustrophobic and ethereal. The movement above the spectators heads evokes the sound of bombs and construction,  twin specters that pepper Berlin’s landscape.

The film How to Appear Invisible depicts the demolition of the last remnants of Palast der Republik in 2008 under a stark, grey winter sky. The chugging of machinery and sifting of great mounds of earth is depicted in a mesmerizing wash of grays and browns so common to Berlin winters.

Then comes the German Shepherd.

Drained of the breed’s Nazi war film menace, this mellow dog roams the rubble of demolition and reconstruction sporting a Kentucky Fried Chicken cone collar. Surrounded by crumbling, dirty dish-water colored things, the KFC bucket-cum-cone is formally stunning. Its rich red color lends the bucket the totemic  allure of The Archers’ Red Shoes. Still, the KFC cone really got to me. It seemed too flippant a gesture in a work that was otherwise thought provoking. As the Berlin based curator Paul Thomas wryly observed, “every time I see things like that in an artwork, I find myself wondering: is this heavy handed? Or am I just jaded?"

--Jesi Khadivi 

(Images: Allora & Calzadilla, Compass, 2009, Wooden drop ceiling, dancer, dimensions variable, Installation view: Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin, 2009, Photo: Jens Ziehe, Berlin © Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin / Allora & Calzadilla
Allora & Calzadilla, How to Appear Invisible (filmstill), 2009, Super 16mm film transferred to HD Video, color, sound, 21'30" ©Allora & Calzadilla)