"pigsartpigs" project by stephan halter

"pigsartpigs" project by stephan halter in bulart gallery
19 march 2009 - 5 april 2009

Stefan Halter was born in 1977 in Hildesheim, Germany. In 1999 graduated german language, linguistics and german literature in the University of Leipzig. His contemporary arts activities started since 2000. He works in the field of installation, painting, ready-made, text. He use objects from everyday life or imitated such, also he use trash of civilization. He plays with accepted concepts and manipulates meanings. In his works are pieces of fashion fetishes, street icons, trendy leaders or trendy goods; the slang also often is an artistic tool. He has publications in German journals and literary anthology of modern prose. At present the artist lives and works in Berlin. The project in Bulart gallery is a part of "Young Art" gallery’s program and it is the result of a two-years preparation. The “pigsartpigs “ project, provoked by anti/utopical reality into the Orwell’s books is a reflection of Stephan Halter’s point of view about communication into the art system; it is a research about relations between art-gallery-customers, about the links between audience and curators. Radical and ironic, this research expresses autor's disagreement with the position of commercial art structures and counterfeiting. He used the pig as a paradoxical symbol of good and evil into the system. He asked questions about manipulation by the visual language and at the same time he provokes a reflection, whether things are as they seem. Pig by nature, he writes in his text for exhibition is essentially smart and clean being. Pigs serve the people with their bodies, but same time they live and multiply in unclean environment, become a victim of manipulation in that same environment and in the end they become appellative for the bad behavior. Games by words, manipulative meanings, grotesque and irony, help author’s research. Meat and gold are as a symbol of wealth, buttons "Armani"- false lustre, cans, syringes, homemade meat making machine, security camera and pigs in various situations/some of them are in golden colors/, whole this are part of the means in this artistic dissection. Radical by the visual language, but loaded with humor, the exhibition provokes many questions about the place and role of contemporary artist in well structured system in our urban and consumables society.

Dora Doncheva, curator

Bulart gallery, 22 Shipka str, Varna