Wor(l)ds Dont Come Easy

How does language relate to the world and vice versa? Is it possible to grasp seemingly invisible things like thoughts, feelings or atmospheres through art? What signs, lines or languages must be found or invented first?

Gansterer has spent three years intensively studying the influential work of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, in particular his book Philosophical Investigations. In exchange with the philosopher Klaus Speidel, drawings, objects, installations and performances were created, which have now been published in the book „Playing with Ludwig / Jouer avec Ludwig“ and are presented in Belgium for the first time. In the series of works Philosophical Deviations, (→ 1) Gansterer takes up philosophical thought and translates and expands it with artistic means. In a playful dialogue with Wittgenstein’s writings, fundamental themes such as pain and image, colour and imagination (→ 2), death and the materiality of language (→ 5 & 6) come into view.

As part of his ongoing artistic research project Contingent Agencies, Gansterer is researching the topic of human and non-human agents. In highly concentrated sessions, Gansterer attempts to notate the entangled interaction of eg. wind, temperature, movement and the perception of a specific atmosphere and mood by means of performative drawings (→ 3 & 4). The exhibition Wor(l)ds Don’t Come Easy brings these two groups of works in a complex relationship and provides a fascinating insight into Gansterer’s exploratory view of the world.

In the course of the exhibition opening on Wednesday 5 April at 18:00, the newly published book „Playing with Ludwig / Jouer avec Ludwig“ (Gansterer & Speidel, Éditions Dilecta Paris, 2022) will be presented. The writer and dramaturge Jeroen Peeters and the artist Nikolaus Gansterer engage in a conversation and performative activation, Drawing on a Book. How do words, lines, images and the world of the page converse with the multiple languages of artistic practice? On Friday April 7 at 16:00 Gansterer gives a guided tour through his exhibition.

List of works presented:

(1) Nikolaus Gansterer, Philosophical Deviations, 2019-2022,
Selection of drawings (partly framed)
Felt pens, pencils, ink on paper,
three objects on boards.
Various dimensions.

(2) Nikolaus Gansterer, Memories of Colour (Green), 2019-2023,
Annotated colour samples pinned on the pillar.
Various dimensions.

(3) Nikolaus Gansterer, Contingent Agencies (Denkspur 1), 2022,
round drawing on paper behind Plexiglas on MDF.
Dimensions 130 x 130 x 5 cm.

(4) Nikolaus Gansterer, Contingent Agencies, 2019-2020,
drawings (each 30 x 42 cm), coloured pencils on paper,
with notation protocol, in plexiglas showcase.
Dimensions 50 x 70 x 58 cm.

(5) Nikolaus Gansterer, Untitled Drawing Instrument, 2019/23,
installation with metal tripod, aluminium circle,
white pencil on a string, round mirror,
various balls (glass, metal, paper mache, polystyrene)
metal and wooden circles on the floor.
Dimensions 200 x 200 x 150 cm.

(6) Nikolaus Gansterer, So strange to me, 2021/23,
Found letters pinned on the wall,
Dimensions approx. 400 x 90 x 5 cm.

Nikolaus Gansterer, solo exhibition
5.4.2023 – 23.4.2023

WIELS, Center for Contemporary Art,

Project Space, Brussels

Kindly supported by BMKOES, ACF – Austrian Cultural Forum Brussels