CHEZ NOUS, 2023 - Christoph Meier, Ute Müller, Robert Schwarz, Lukas Stopczynski

CHEZ NOUS is the latest chapter in a series of walk-in sculptures that have temporarily functioned as artist-run bars, hosting concerts, performances and exhibitions in Los Angeles, Brussels and Vienna. Over the years Christoph Meier, Ute Müller, Robert Schwarz, and Lukas Stopczynski have created site-specific iterations of the Loos Bar (also known as the Kärntner Bar and the American Bar), in a variety of locations and materials. The Loos Bar, an architectural icon and a significant example of Austrian modernism, designed by Adolf Loos in 1908, is located in Vienna’s 1st district and measures just 27.36 m2. From episode to episode, the artists have expanded their repertoire of cross-references and levels of abstraction. In all versions, the scaling of the original proportions along the given spatial structure led to modifications that had a decisive impact on the overall concept of each bar. From the value of the material to the pitch of the music to the quality of the service, the act of scaling was joyfully celebrated. CHEZ NOUS is the 5th variation and much more than an audiovisual documentation of the previous iterations. Claiming to be a 1:1 model itself, CHEZ NOUS, in reference to Marcel Duchamp's Boîte-en-valise, becomes a site-independent intervention, a Bar in a Box. It features a 120-page booklet, one ashtray in the shape of the Loos Bar tables and three audio cassettes with 180 minutes of adventurous bar music. A selection of recordings of performances hosted, the original soundtrack of the Sad Hour, as well as commissioned works for piano by Philipp Quehenberger and Marino Formenti.

Custom made transparent, thermo-formed PET case with a cardboard reinforced cover containing an aluminum casted ashtray, a booklet of 120 pages with numerous colored illustrations and three audio cassettes. Limited edition of 200. Edited and published by Christoph Meier, Ute Müller, Robert Schwarz, Lukas Stopczynski. Tapes Designed by Boy Vereecken with Antoine Begon.

 

More Info:
https://www.lax-bar.com/cheznous.html

Image Credits: Gregor Titze