YASMIN MÜLLER

SUPER MODE

31. Oct – 21. Nov 2009

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Super Mode is the brand name of a pair of white imitation leather shoes that Yasmin Müller came across at a local Turkish shop. The epitome of Pop, these cheap, expendable, simple-shaped objects can be likened to the practice of Lichtenstein, who through the act of placing objects from mass-culture into an art context, not only sought to highlight these familiar objects, but also attempted to reduce them to simple form: ?What I do is forms?to use things for purely formal reasons?to not take the objects or subject matter seriously?just to use them.? Müller draws much of her inspiration from Fashion. She works on the fabric of contemporaneity, playing with the mobility of hierarchies and values found in Western culture. Her practice is that of a trend researcher tracking contemporary objects laden with cultural references that surface in high-culture, only to quickly become ubiquitous in mass-culture ? a drift, a shift, a vogue. Marmorkuchen, a traditional cake known for its marbled appearance, took on a hard, geometric form once it became mass-produced and could be found on the shelves of most supermarkets. Here, the emotive swirl gave way to its synthetic counterpart. What they share is a similar surface, which Müller brings to attention by literally producing a cake made of marble. This draws noticeable parallels to the way in which Pop and other succeeding artists continue to appropriate the gesture of Abstract Expressionists painters and use it as a readymade. Müller focuses on the surface, pulling stereotypes and easily accessible language out of objects, patterns, color configuration, and forms that circulate in popular culture. A certain intervention of sorts, her objects and assemblages unhinge the function from objects and subject these signifying fragments to new contexts, altering or exaggerating the typical.