Gelitin Explained

Gelitin (stylized in lowercase as gelitin) is a group of four artists from Vienna, Austria. The group was formerly known as Gelatin, and changed their name in 2005. They are known for creating sensational art events in the tradition of Relational Aesthetics, often with a lively sense of humor.

Works

One of Gelitin's best known art projects began in March 2000, when the group removed one of the windows on the 91st floor of the former World Trade Center complex and temporarily installed a narrow balcony, while a helicopter flew around the scene, taking photographs to be later documented in their book The B-Thing.^[1] The book was published in 2001 and had even by that time taken on an air of urban legend, with new copies selling for $5,000 on Amazon.com as of 2016.^{[2] [3]}

Another of their projects is a gigantic plush toy: a 55m (180feet) reclining pink Bunny installed on Colletto Fava (near Genoa, Italy), intended to remain there until 2025.^{[4] [5]}

In November 2005, the group had a show at Leo Koenig, Inc. in New York, a project called Tantamounter 24/7. The artists called their project a "gigantic, complex and very clever machine", which functioned as a kind of art-copier. The group erected a barrier blocking off one half of the space, locking themselves inside for one week. They asked visitors to insert items that they wanted copied into an opening through the barrier; hand-made copies were later returned through another opening.^[6]

Other works include:

• Vorm - Fellows - Attitude (2018) at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands: giant sculptures of feces, with visitors encouraged to put on costumes representing nude men and women^[7]
• Sculpture for a Sculpturepark (2018) a temporary interactive clay pit for visitors to make sculptures, at the Middelheim Open Air Sculpture Museum, Antwerp^[8]
• Die Wachauer Nase (2014), a giant nose on the bank of the Danube River, in St. Lorenz (Rossatz-Arnsdorf), Wachau, Austria^[9]
• Die Tusovka Runde (2014) in Moscow, Russia^[10]
• La Louvre, Paris (2008) at ARC, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
• Tantamounter 24/7 (2005), a "gigantic, complex and very clever machine" created at Leo Koenig, New York
• Hase / Rabbit / Coniglio (2005), a 55m (180feet) knitted pink rabbit on Colletto Fava^{[11] [12] [13]}
• Zapf de Pipi (2005), a giant icicle of frozen urine as contributed by the visitors at the Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art^[14]
• Otto Volante (2004), a roller coaster inside a gallery in Milan, Italy
• Arc de Triomphe (2003), a 7m (23feet) tall fountain picturing a urinating figure made of of plasticine, in Salzburg, Austria
• Armpit (2002), a human elevator of body builders for the Liverpool Biennial
• Schlund (2001), a human scaffolding of fat people at the Bavarian Theatre, Munich, Germany
• Die totale Osmose (2001), a swamp surrounding the Austrian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale
• The B-Thing (2000), a small temporary external balcony outside the 91st floor of the World Trade Center^[15]
• Weltwunder (2000), a hidden underwater cave, only accessible by diving through a pipe 5 meters deep, as part of the Expo 2000 in Hannover, Germany
• Percutaneous Delights (1998), temporary courtyard installation at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York City, featuring a cooling tower of refrigerators, a climbable tower of cabinetry, and an inflatable transparent swimming pool.^[16]

Publications

• Book: Gelatin Atlas . 2022 . Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König . Köln . 9783753302133.

Notes and References

1. News: Dewan . Shaila . August 18, 2001 . Balcony scene (or unseen) atop the world;episode at trade center assumes mythic qualities . The New York Times (Metro section).
2. Book: Rubinowitz, Tex . 978-3883755076 . 2001 . Gelatin: The B-Thing.
3. https://www.amazon.com/Gelatin-B-Thing-Tex-Rubinowitz/dp/3883755079/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357420224&sr=1-1&keywords=Gelitin+the+b+thing Amazon listing for The B-Thing
4. News: Kahn . Meredith . Directions: Big, Dead, Rotting, Silly Rabbit . . 2005-11-06 . 2009-04-17.
5. News: Castellini . Luisa . Ad Artesina arriva Pink Rabbit, il coniglio rosa più grande del mondo . Italian . . 2005-09-02 . 2009-04-17.
6. Web site: Davis . Ben . Raging Within the Machine . artnet magazine . 2009-04-17.
7. Web site: Sofia Lekka . Angelopoulou . gelitin invites visitors to walk around giant turds in latest exhibition 'vorm - fellows - attitude' . Designboom . 2018-06-19 .
8. Web site: Experience Traps (Projects) . gelitin.net . 2023-06-17.
9. Web site: Die Wachauer Nase (Projects) . gelitin.net . 2023-06-17.
10. Web site: View of the exhibition "Die Tusovka Runde" Solyanka VPA, Moscou (Russia), 2014 . Perrotin . 2023-06-17 . en.
11. Web site: Artists erect giant pink bunny on mountain . https://web.archive.org/web/20050924201223/http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1541732.html . . 2005-09-24 .
12. Web site: Hase / Rabbit / Coniglio (Projects) . gelitin.net . 2023-06-17.
13. http://www.gelitin.net/mambo/index.php?set_albumName=rabbit&option=com_gallery&Itemid=28&include=view_album.php Pictures
14. Web site: Zapf de Pipi (Projects) . gelitin.net . 2023-06-17.
15. Web site: The B-Thing (Projects) . gelitin.net . 2023-06-17.
16. Web site: Percutaneous Delights (Projects) . gelitin.net . 2023-06-17.