End of Life – Contribution to the Inefficiency of Poetry

Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller kept in «End of Life (Contribution to the Inefficiency of Poetry)» the dying of everyday used things as if it would be a spiritual meeting, as if also things are inherent in a soul, which they send in a last exhale to heaven. The reason for the photographic performance are the International Light Days in Winterthur and an exchange idea by Osram and the electric power organisation of Winterthur, which provides that old bulbs can be exchanged for new ones, more environmentally friendly ones. Because the conventional and energy-hungry light bulbs are no longer appropriate to the todays demands of efficiency, they are moved from the market little by little until 2013. The light bulb, invented in 1879, becomes extinct and the artists are celebrating the swan song. The bulb is heated briefly, dipped in cold water, whereupon it shatters. The internal electrical conductors, the coil – no longer protected by an inert gas and the glass bulb – comes into contact with oxygen and burns, as soon as connected again with electric power; it evaporates. […]

Brita Polzer, Kunstbulletin, 11/2010