DISTANZ — hobbypopMUSEUM: Saved Images
Publication.
The artist group hobbypopMUSEUM (Sophie von Hellermann, b. 1975, lives and works in London; Marie-Céline Schäfer, b. 1967, lives and works in Zhaoqing, China; and Christian Jendreiko, b. 1969, Matthias Lahme, b. 1974, Dietmar Lutz, b. 1968, and André Niebur, b. 1973, who live and work in Düsseldorf) first came to public notice with a self-designed project at the old central post office in Düsseldorf in 1998. The piece was an early example of the collective’s characteristic approach: they like to work in interactive fashion and scrutinize the phenomena of the “museum” and the “exhibition” from a variety of angles. To this purpose, they employ a wide range of media: their ensembles incorporate paintings, sculptures, photographs, and video pieces in visually powerful installations. The artist group as a band touring the world of art and transforming any venue on its never-ending roadshow into a total play of art: that is the guiding idea behind hobbypopMUSEUM.
The book, with essays by Oriane Durand, Andrew Renton, Benjamin Thorel, and Sam Watson, looks back on twenty years of hobbypopMUSEUM. In addition to contributing a text, we worked closely with hobbypopMUSEUM on their archives and developing this resulting publication.