Loop – Alles auf Anfang: Klaus Biesenbach's Curatorial Debut in Munich

Klaus Biesenbach, chief curator at P.S.1/MoMA New York and director of Kunst-Werke Berlin, organized the exhibition 'Loop – Alles auf Anfang' (Loop – Start from the Beginning) at the Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung in Munich, from September 14 to November 14, 2001. The show juxtaposed contemporary film, video, sound installations, and performances with biotechnological themes, exploring cyclical time and the tension between first-world leisure and third-world labor. The venue, designed by Herzog & de Meuron and located in the Fünf Höfe shopping center, underscored the exhibition's critique of consumerism. Works included Heike Baranowsky's video of a swimmer endlessly doing laps to the tune of 'The Internationale' with a sound installation by Susan Philipsz, Bruce Nauman's swinging torso, Abramović/Ulay's circling truck, and Ugo Rondinone's tinted-glass piece. Artists from the 'first world' employed an aesthetic of indifference, while those from the global South addressed violence and media manipulation directly: Paul Pfeiffer's 'Fragment of a Crucifixion' merged religion, sport, and horror; Francis Alÿs's double projection showed a failed attempt to shoot a random person; Javier Téllez confined viewers in a bird blind; and Santiago Sierra staged extreme acts. Western artists used gags to critique consumption, such as Carsten Höller's slow carousel and Aernout Mik's sit-in ballet. The exhibition traveled to P.S.1/MoMA New York from December 2, 2001 to January 13, 2002.