28.03.–10.05.1998

In his works, the Hamburg-based artist Christian Jankowski (b. 1968) stages role-plays in which he consciously makes reference to the given exhibition space. For Portikus, Jankowski has developed a concept referring to the former function as a library of the building destroyed in WW II.

During the course of the exhibition, the artist writes a book in Portikus. Its title "My first book" points to the future; the book to be written is published after the exhibition instead of a catalogue.

Jankowski will composes this book in differently furnished spatial situations evoking the inspiring ambience of a given author. In addition, typical daily routines and behaviour patterns of various authors are tested. The artist are, however, not plays the role of another person, but adequately applies the specific relations of the writers to their surroundings to his own activities, which then are defined by them.

The process of creating the book along with the preoccupation with a literary topic still to be found therefore becomes the theme of the book as of the exhibition. The creation of the book is defined by the respective interior, the "genius loci", as expression of a specific mental climate affecting the person in it.

The exhibition's duration of six weeks is the framework for six interior mise en scènes. Sundays forms the breaks with matinees taking place at 11 a.m. They simultaneously serve as prologues for the upcoming spatial scenario. Jankowski invites to the matinees guests professionally dealing with literature.

In conversations with these guests, Jankowski seeks inspiration for his book and ultimately processes the views and the advice of the professionals in writing.

As in his earlier installations, Jankowski is concerned with the outside conditions of artistic work. The exhibition space turns into the site of another event, the artist himself steps back behind the foil of another activity. Jankowski thus enriches his originally conceptual work with a playful and fictional variant.