Martino Gamper: Sitzung

“There is no perfect design and there is no über-design. Objects talk to us personally. Some might be more functional than others, and the emotional attachment is very individual.” —Martino Gamper

Martino Gamper will be in residence at Haus der Kunst, creating a series of newly designed chairs, a development of his celebrated long-running project 100 Chairs in 100 Days (2006).

During the run of the exhibition, the chairs will be freely reconfigured by the public and the staff—to gather, to rest, and to play—turning the Mittelhalle into a transforming, constantly changing social space. The reconfigurations will be based on a series of rules that Gamper will deliver at the beginning of the project, defining a choreography that will transform the appearance of the whole space weekly. Alongside, Gamper will create a new light design that will change the atmosphere of the Mittelhalle from a usually transitory space to one of gathering.

Speaking about the project, Gamper said: “For Haus der Kunst, the furniture will be made in a variety of ways including craft and industrial processes, using a huge range of materials. The chairs will be experimental, fit for purpose but imperfect, rather than products they are vehicles to explore seating as a sculptural object.”

The project highlights the path toward new forms of engagement and learning that Haus der Kunst started in 2023. It has been developed in cooperation between Martino Gamper, the curatorial team, and the engagement and learning team at Haus der Kunst.

Since the beginning of his career, Gamper (b. 1971, Merano, Italy) looks for new ways to engage with and activate design within everyday life. Gamper is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work 100 Chairs in 100 Days, which he embarked on in 2006 to systematically collect discarded chairs and then spend 100 days reconfiguring the design of each one to transform its character and/or the way it functions.

Influenced by Pina Bausch’s work and the use of chairs in dance theater, Gamper has developed a choreography around and with his exhibition objects in collaboration with performers. This choreography will follow a crescendo principle and take place throughout the exhibition months. In order to make the participatory aspect of Gamper’s artistic approach work, the performative activations of the session will be organized within the framework of the monthly Open Haus (last Friday of the month, from 4–10pm) at Haus der Kunst.

Developed in cooperation between Martino Gamper, the curatorial team, and the engagement and learning team at Haus der Kunst (Andrea Lissoni, Emma Enderby, Hanns Lennart Wiesner, Pia Linden, Camille Latreille).

Martino Gamper’s Sitzung at Haus der Kunst München, illuminated by Occhio.