„I have reduced space – there is nothing more to be said” (In the style of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s “tractatus logico-philosphicus”)
During the years 2005 to 2006 Gottfried Bechtold was working on a presentation for a comprehensive show of his works in the Bregenzer Kunsthaus. His intention was to comprise not only the house in an exhibition, respectively in some installations, but also the space outside the Kunsthaus.
The ensemble of sculptures entitled “eleven eleven” was thus presented in its forecourt. This ensemble was made up of 11 casts of a prototype of the Porsche 911 series, which the Porsche Company had put at his disposal for these purposes. About 35 years earlier he had presented his first concrete Porsche, a cast of his own car, in Bregenz, later on (in 2001) a second one followed, the so-called “Crash-Porsche”.
During the production of the moulds for these casts as well as during the actual casting, a video documentation of these works was recorded.
The sound fragments which can be heard here come from this video material; they establish a connection to the process of densification of the original form, i.e. the starting point for these sculptures.
This original form – the original Porsche Carrera S-997 prototype – was densified in a junk press after the casting, i.e. “compressed”, and was also exhibited within the framework of this show in form of a cube on the ground floor of the Kunsthaus.
The photographic image again shows a model of the process.
(Photo: Bechtold)