Crowd Crystals

Works on Kloster St. Marienberg and Helmstedt
2005 to 2006

During my nine-month residency in the St. Marienberg monastery in Helmstedt on the former inner-German border, I picked up the threads of previous work groups to spin them further in relation to the specific location. A special companion during my stay was Elias Canetti’s “Crowds and Power”.

I showed my works created in the monastery in the solo exhibition 'Crowd Crystals' (2006) in the St. Marienberg monastery and in Helmstedt’s County Hall. A catalogue was published to accompany the presentation with a text by Ilaria Hoppe.

Kati Gausmann: o.T.

Kati Gausmann: o.T.

Kati Gausmann: o.T., series of 14

Kati Gausmann: o.T., Series of 14

Kati Gausmann: o.T., Series of 14

Kati Gausmann: .T., Series of 5

Kati Gausmann: o.T., Series of 5

Kati Gausmann: Patch-up, Series of 6

Kati Gausmann: Patch-up

Kati Gausmann: Patch-up, Series of 6

Kati Gausmann: Art Scholarship of the District of Helmstedt

Kati Gausmann: Art Scholarship of the District of Helmstedt

Kati Gausmann: Artist's residency of the district of Helmstedt

Kati Gausmann: Courage poem, from the series ‘Texts for use’

Kati Gausmann: Courage poem, from the series ‘Texts for use’

Kati Gausmann: Courage poem, from the series ‘Texts for use’

Kati Gausmann: German is the Official Language

Kati Gausmann: Helmstedter Nachrichten 01.07. - 31.12.2005

Kati Gausmann: Helmstedter Nachrichten 01.07. - 31.12.2005

Kati Gausmann • o.T. • 2005 • Spatial Drawing with Cotton Thread
19 crosses of different heights stand in the garden formed by the cloister courtyard. I connect each of the crosses with a red thread.

Kati Gausmann • o.T. • 2005 • Spatial Drawing with Cotton Thread
There is a change in temperature overnight. A cross falls over and breaks below the crossbar.

Kati Gausmann • o.T., series of 14 • 2005 • Pencel on Paper • Approx. 135/155 x 60 cm
Work situation in the cloister: The sunlight shining through the different structures of the leaded glass windows in the cloister of the St. Marienberg monastery in Helmstedt reproduces their patterns in light and shadows. From the first to the last incidence of daylight, I uninterruptedly trace in drawing the course of the shadows cast on the windowsill. The length of time taken by the course of the sun and length of time taken by my drawing overlap in the density of the drawing.

Kati Gausmann • o.T., Series of 14 • 2005 • Pencel on Paper • 45 x 57 cm
Drawing from the northern cloister with the sun in the south.

Kati Gausmann • o.T., Series of 14 • 2005 • Pencel on Paper • 140 x 59 cm
Drawing from the eastern cloister with the sun in the west.

Kati Gausmann • .T., Series of 5 • 2005 • Pencil and Felt Tip Pen on Paper • 20 x 23 cm
On a scale of 1:100, I recorded the disposition of 19 crosses in the cloister garden and set up variating principles for their inner structure: Each with one another, the three nearest, the seven nearest, the three furthest, the seven furthest. Red felt-tip indicates an additional spatial point (the position of a former high cross or the centre of the space) as well as the relational principle.

Kati Gausmann • o.T., Series of 5 • 2006 • Scratch Drawings: Acrylic glass drilled and scratch-engraved on both sides • 20 x 20 x 1 cm
The disposition of the 19 crosses is transferred and rotated in format. The inner structure varies.

Kati Gausmann • Patch-up, Series of 6 • 2006 • Color Photography • 58 x 48 x 0,5 cm
In analogy to the textile techniques of the workshops in St. Marienberg monastery, paraments and restoration, I fixed six damaged items of old clothing selected from the used textiles at the German Red Cross Helmstedt (DRK) and subsequently returned them to the DRK clothing store.

Kati Gausmann • Patch-up • 2005/06 • Textile Techniques
I gave the green dress to Birgit who works in the clothing store. She wore it at the opening of the exhibition.

Kati Gausmann • Patch-up, Series of 6 • 2006 • Color Photography • 58 x 48 x 0,5 cm
The photographs were taken in front of the shelves of the DRK’s clothing store.

Kati Gausmann • Art Scholarship of the District of Helmstedt • 2005/06 • Card index box, colour photograph, and text • 120 x 25 x 25,5 cm; Cards DIN A5
What is left of the scholarship? I write to all former scholarship recipients and ask them for a personal memo of their time in Helmstedt. The district buys one work created by every artist during the scholarship. Thus, a collection of works has come together that is either kept in storage or exhibited in the offices and hallways of various administrative buildings. In the historical County Hall itself there is an “art corner”. The card index box contains a collection of photographs of all works purchased up until this date, together with a mention of their respective location and recollections of former scholarship holders.

Kati Gausmann • Art Scholarship of the District of Helmstedt • 2005/06 • Index card, colour photograph, and text • 120 x 25 x 25,5 cm; cards DIN A5
Recollection of former residency holder

Kati Gausmann • Artist's residency of the district of Helmstedt • 2005/06 • Index cards, colour photograph, and text • 120 x 25 x 25,5 cm; Cards DIN A5
Works from the collection at their respective location

Kati Gausmann • Courage poem, from the series ‘Texts for use’ • 2001 • Text on perforated index card • DIN A5
On the occasion of the Helmstedter Kulturnacht 2005, the ‘Courage poem’ is hung in public space along the paths and at the event venues

Kati Gausmann • Courage poem, from the series ‘Texts for use’ • 2001 • Text on perforated index card • DIN A5
The German language has many different kinds of courage in store. On a tear-off slip I write down a selection of the options in the form of a poem. You can take a piece of “courage” with you.

Kati Gausmann • Courage poem, from the series ‘Texts for use’ • 2001/05 • Text on perforated index card • DIN A5
Hung in public space along the paths and in the venues during the Helmstedt night of culture, 2005

Kati Gausmann • German is the Official Language • 2006 • Text • 19 sheets DIN A4
The County Hall of the district also houses the Office for Foreign Nationals. I have placed the phrase “German is the Official Language” (Administrative Procedure Act of the Federal Republic of Germany, §23, Paragraph 1) on the wall opposite the Office for Foreign Nationals in Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Kurdish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

Kati Gausmann • Helmstedter Nachrichten 01.07. - 31.12.2005 • Total length 104 m
Chronologically sequenced group pictures from the regional daily newspaper during the period of the scholarship form a many-headed, 104-metre-long ribbon.

Kati Gausmann • Helmstedter Nachrichten 01.07. - 31.12.2005 • 2005 • Total length 104 m