Empfangshalle (literally lobby) is the name of a German performing art duo. It was founded by Corbinian Böhm and Michael Gruber in Munich ( Germany) in 1995.

Medium of their works is the society. They perform their art projects in the open, especially in popular places. Their art projects - more often than not - are a mystery to the viewers and often cause confusion. A typical example was the staged "Gei hin hol" [gei: hi:n ho:l] mega-poster action with incomprehensible foreign language messages in Munich (2005).

Exhibitions and projects

(listed in chronological order) ^[1]

• 1998:
  • "Pagine per la Libertà", Pisa, Italy
  • "Sag lächelnd Good Bye" (say good bye with a smile), Old North Cemetery of Munich, Germany
  • Skulpturenprojekt (project with sculptures), Alentejo, Portugal
• 1999:
  • "Play", Old North Cemetery of Munich, Germany
• 2000:
  • "Drei-Sekunden" (three seconds), on the ramp in front of the Empfangshalle studio, Munich, Germany
  • "Empfangshalle macht sich ein Bild" (Empfangshalle gets an impression), Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
  • "Himmelfahrt" (ascension), Diocesan Museum, Freising, Germany
  • "Laden und Löschen" (loading and deleting), Piazza, Munich literary house, Germany
  • "Move me", subway entrances in Munich, Nuremberg and Berlin, Germany
  • "Open Art", Maximiliansforum, Munich, Germany
  • "Qualitätswochen" (quality weeks), state art gallery of Baden-Baden, Germany
• 2001:
  • "Bitte melde Dich" (please call back ...), Brooklyn Bridge, New York City
  • "Loch" (hole), joint project with Haubitz&Zoche
  • "Kabûl Salonu", Istanbul, Turkey
• 2002:
  • "Auf kürzestem Weg" (taking the shortest way possible), artists’ gallery ('Galerie der Künstler'), Munich, Germany
  • "Auftraggeber mit Öffentlichkeit" (customer with public), Munich, Germany
  • "Gelsenlos" (Gelsen(kirchen) lottery ticket)", Overtures, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
• 2003:
  • " Cape of Good Hope", an art project in public space, Kuopio, Finland
  • "Woher Kollege Wohin Kollege" (buddy, where do you come from, where are you going), an art project in public space, Munich, Germany
  • Werkschau (exhibition of works), Kunsthaus Raskolnikow, Dresden, Germany
• 2004:
  • premiere of "Woher Kollege Wohin Kollege" buddy, where do you come from, where are you going), a documentary film of the same name as the art project, municipal museum, Munich, Germany
  • "Brot und Butter" (bread and butter), municipal gallery in the Höhmannhaus, Augsburg, Germany
  • "Schichtwechsel" (change of shift), hall 13, cotton spinning-mill (' Baumwollspinnerei'), Leipzig, Germany
• 2005:
  • "Gei hin hol", [gei: hi:n ho:l], an art project in public space with mega-posters, Munich, Germany
  • "Ein Kreuz für das 21. Jahrhundert" (a cross for the 21st century), diocesan museum, Freising, Germany
  • "Willkommen in Leipzig" (welcome to Leipzig), together with Medium Green ('zwischengrün'), art association of Leipzig, Germany
  • "Klopstockstr. Haus 6" (Klopstock street No 6), Petulapark, Munich, Germany
• 2006:
  • "Eröffnungsausstellung H2 - Zentrum für Gegenwartskunst" (opening exhibition H2), Augsburg, Germany
  • "as if we were alone", ' Ars Electronica', Linz, Austria (August 31 – September 5)
  • "Klopstockstr. Haus 6", Petulapark Munich
  • "Image Flux: China, Guangzhou
  • "as if we were alone", Filmfest München
• 2007:
  • "Mobile journey", 52nd Venice Biennale
  • Fototriennale, Esslingen
  • "Woher Kollege wohin Kollege", "urban stories", Berlin
• 2008:
  • "Camp Berlin", Berlin
  • "Werkschau", Kunsthaus Raskolnikow, and public space in Dresden
  • "Paradoxien des Öffentlichen", Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg
  • "seesaw", Dina4, studio, Berlin
  • "3+2=4" DG Deutsche Gesellschaft für christliche Kunst, Munich
  • "Golden Gate" Kunst am Bau project, Neues Schulzentrum, Fürstenfeldbruck
  • "Seaplay" China Cup, installation work on the beach, Shenzhen
  • "Wanderarbeiter" Shenzhen, video work and performance along with workers
• 2009:
  • "Art on Site" NCCA Moskau and Goethe-Institut, Kaliningrad, Russia
  • "Beauty and the beast" 3rd Moscow Biennale, Russia
  • "Kunst zur Arbeit" Opelvillen, Rüsselsheim
  • "The Benjamin Project" Gallery Diet, Miami, United States
  • "Paradiso" Diocesan Museum, Freising, Germany
  • "Wanderarbeiter" Shenzhen, video work and performance with workers
• 2010:
  • "The Benjamin Project", single exhibition, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
• 2011:
  • "Hinterm Horizont", realization of the " Kunst am Bau" concept for the Justizvollzugsanstalt Heidering, Berlin, Germany
  • "taggen" at the KIOSK FRee, Sendlinger Tor, Munich, Germany
  • " Isar Peak", within the scope of "transformations", Galerie Kampl, Munich, Germany
• 2012:
  • "arabian countdown", temporary work in the Rotunda of the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany ^[2]

Awards and nominations

• 1999: Kestler-Häusler-Stiftung sponsorship award
• 2001:
  • Erwin-und-Gisela-von-Steiner-Stiftung scholarship
  • 1st, " Kunst am Bau" competition, Munich East work yard planning ^[3]
• 2002: Debutant of the Bundesverband Bildender Künstlerinnen und Künstler, Munich, and of Bavaria
• 2003: Art prize of the Fürstenfeldbruck district
• 2004: Young CIVIS media prize nomination of the "Woher Kollege Wohin Kollege" film, Vienna
• 2006: "der hausderkunst preis", Haus der Kunst art prize, Munich
• 2008: Erwin-und-Gisela-von-Steiner-Stiftung scholarship for the "Benjamin project"

External links

• Empfangshalle
• Literature by and about Empfangshalle in the German National Library catalogue
• Literature by and about Empfangshalle in the German National Library catalogue

References