Space with scupltures made of jute bags, leaning against the wall. Accompanying the figures are small sculptures made of scrap metal and electrical wiring, with attached bulbs serving to light the exhibition space.

Two scupltures made of jute bags leaning against a wall.

Birke Gorm

dead stock

Collecting discarded material is an essential part of Birke Gorm’s entire oeuvre.

1.2.2023—25.6.2023

MAK Gallery

The title of the exhibition dead stock is a reference to the English term for a commodity or material that is superfluous, unsaleable, or defective and is therefore considered “dead” material in a capitalist system. By re-appropriating domestic—historically predominantly female connoted and unpaid—labor processes, the artist shows the enormous potential of the production and circulation of everyday objects in relation to the dismantling of patriarchal gender hierarchies. The nine handmade sculptures in dead stock become symbolic figures for the value of material and labor in the context of gender roles and equality.

CURATOR

Marlies Wirth, Curator, Digital Culture and MAK Design Collection

Artist Birke Gorm in the exhibition space, two scupltures made of jute bags leaning against a wall.

Details of a scuplture made of jute bags

Birke Gorm, born in Hamburg in 1986, lives and works in Vienna. Following studies in textile design in Denmark, painting at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts, and sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, she became an independent artist in 2017, taking part in exhibitions in Vienna, Graz, Berlin, Brussels, Milan, Copenhagen, New York, and Toronto. She is the recipient of the 2020 Strabag Art Award.

Media

MAK Exhibition View, 2023, BIRKE GORM: dead stock © kunst-dokumentation.com/MAK

MAK Exhibition View, 2023, BIRKE GORM: dead stock © eSeL.at - Lorenz Seidler

<BODY>Birke Gorm, Installation view girl anachronism © Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen</BODY>

<BODY>Installation view how to do anything, Galerie der Stadt Schwaz, 2018 © Galerie der Stadt Schwaz</BODY>

<BODY>Birke Gorm, Installation view common crazies, Croy Nielsen, Wien, 2020 © kunst-dokumentation.com</BODY>

<BODY>Birke Gorm, Installation view SPARK Art Fair, 2021 © kunst-dokumentation.com</BODY>

<BODY><div><div>Birke Gorm, huswif (TREE), 2021 © kunst-dokumentation.com</div></div><br /></BODY>

Birke Gorm, loaf of meat (3989g), 2020 © kunst-dokumentation.com