The sculptor and sound artist Walter Zurborg (*1980 in Vechta, lives in Goldenstedt) uses simple means to create technically complex and occasionally humorous works, employing the techniques and methods of kinetics, Arte Povera, and Fluxus. His new works will be presented in a solo exhibition in the Remise of the Kunstverein Braunschweig.

Zurborg’s mechanical, movable constructions and sound installations mostly consist of diverse found and everyday objects that he brings to life with meticulous skill without hiding their “constructedness.” On the contrary: his machines challenge the viewer to understand the fiction against the background of their technical workings, put them into operation, interact with them, or move between and in the acoustic spaces. A well known example is Zurborg’s Rabenscheuche (Scareraven, 2011), in which chaotic computing operations drive motors that set six machines in motion, causing their beating woods to produce ar-rhythmic sounds.

The dramaturgy of energy, motion, and sound is a key aspect of Walter Zurborg’s works, as it is in his new ones, which he developed specifically for the exhibition in the Remise of the Kunstverein Braunschweig: in the space-consuming installation Value Pattern (2012), via a randomizer and upon entering the space, several kernels of corn from a total supply of 100 kg are transported from one large hopper into another. A motor-driven oscillating plate hurls the kernels at high speed through the space—every now and then they hit pairs of aluminum tubes suspended from the ceiling. Energy becomes motion and ultimately—palpable for the viewer—sound. However, what initially seems to be harmless play with chance and speed inevitably proves to make reference to our handling of resources and to the boundaries and responsibility of science and technology. Also in the small space of the Remise is a sound sculpture entitled Wheelie (2012), which Walter Zurborg developed in collaboration with Tamaki Watanabe.

Walter Zurborg studied sound art and sculpture at the Braunschweig University of Art and already boasts a number of important exhibitions and awards. He participated, among others, in group exhibitions at the Marta Herford, the Kunstverein Hannover, the Kunstmuseum Celle, and in Schloss Gottorf. He recently received the sponsorship award for sculpture from the Kulturstiftung der Öffentlichen Versicherungen Oldenburg, and besides receiving a fellowship from the State of Lower Saxony together with Tamaki Watanabe, he was also awarded the sculpture scholarship by the Community of Stuhr.

The exhibition is being supported by:
Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur 

Download floor plan (german)