Anahita Delcorde Reflects on Maria Eichhorn's Closed Exhibition and the Politics of Time
In a long-form essay for Afterall, Writer in Residence Anahita Delcorde revisits Maria Eichhorn's 2016 exhibition '5 weeks, 25 days, 175 hours' at Chisenhale Gallery in London. The exhibition involved closing the gallery for five weeks while paying staff not to work. Delcorde, reflecting on her own COVID-19 experience, explores the work's critique of capitalist productivity and the art world's accelerated pace. The essay draws on Susan Sontag's 'The Aesthetics of Silence' and references historical precedents by Daniel Buren (1968) and Robert Barry (1969). Eichhorn's project included a symposium with Isabell Lorey and Stewart Martin, and a publication detailing the gallery's finances. Public reactions ranged from anger to confusion, with Time Out calling it 'not much going on at all'. The work challenges the commodification of art and the neoliberal erosion of boundaries between work and leisure, aligning with theories by Jonathan Crary, Maurizio Lazzarato, and Gilles Deleuze. Delcorde argues that Eichhorn's gesture of giving time is a form of resistance against 24/7 capitalism.
Key facts
- Maria Eichhorn closed Chisenhale Gallery for her 2016 exhibition '5 weeks, 25 days, 175 hours' from 23 April to 29 May 2016.
- Gallery staff were paid but not allowed to work during the exhibition.
- The exhibition began with a symposium on 23 April 2016 featuring Isabell Lorey and Stewart Martin.
- Eichhorn conducted workshops and interviews with staff in July 2015 as part of the 'How to work together' programme.
- The work references conceptual art precedents by Daniel Buren (1968) and Robert Barry (1969).
- Public responses included anger and criticism from outlets like Time Out.
- Eichhorn's 2001 exhibition at Kunsthalle Bern used the budget for renovations, leaving galleries empty.
- The essay is part of Afterall's Writer-in-Residence series, published 19 November 2021.
Entities
Artists
- Maria Eichhorn
- Daniel Buren
- Robert Barry
- Anahita Delcorde
- Susan Sontag
- Paul Lafargue
- Isabell Lorey
- Stewart Martin
- Polly Staple
- Katie Guggenheim
- Elizabeth Ferrell
- Claire Bishop
- Jonathan Crary
- Maurizio Lazzarato
- Gilles Deleuze
- Michel Foucault
- Marina Vishmidt
- Laura Parker
- Mai-Thu Perret
- Himali Singh Soin
- Matt Breen
- Andy Beckett
- Lucy Lippard
- Danielle Child
- Mathieu Copeland
- Balthazar Lovay
- Alexander Alberro
- Blake Stimson
- Sabeth Buchmann
- Friederike Sigler
- Michael Asher
- Jacques Derrida
- Hito Steyerl
- Seth Siegelaub
- Luc Boltanski
- Eve Chiapello
Institutions
- Afterall
- Chisenhale Gallery
- Kunsthalle Bern
- Apollinaire Gallery
- Art & Project Gallery
- Arts Council England
- Time Out
- Artforum
- The Guardian
- e-flux journal
- MIT Press
- University of California Press
- Bloomsbury
- JRP|Editions
- Centre Pompidou
- Centre Pompidou-Metz
- Fri Art
- Koenig Books
- Generali Foundation
- Whitechapel Gallery
- NYRB Classics
- Verso
- Picador
- Whitney Museum of American Art
- Hochschule der Künste Berlin
Locations
- London
- United Kingdom
- Milan
- Italy
- Amsterdam
- Netherlands
- Bern
- Switzerland
- Paris
- France
- New York
- United States
- Zurich
- Geneva
- Fribourg
- Vienna
- Austria
- Cambridge
- Massachusetts
- Berkeley
- California
- Berlin
- Germany