Dear James, 2009
as part of curatedby 2009
Gallery Layr Wuestenhagen, Vienna
curators Maria de Corral & Dan Cameron
May 6 - June 6 2009
The installation Dear James... deals with the situation of a lost barrel of Sauerkraut Mahony wanted to send from Vienna across the Atlantic with the final goal Ushuaia, Argentina where they took part at the Bienal del Fin del Mundo.
Mahony´s attempt to send the former life preserver of sailors had been stopped by the custom control in Buenos Aires. Since then the Sauerkraut waits there for its determination. On the one hand Mahony describes the way of travel the barrel should have taken, transported by the cargo ship Monte Olivia to Ushuaia with its landmark the mountain Monte Olivia. On the other hand Mahony describes the kafkaesque battle of bureaucracy in search for the barrel based on different medias such as photography, painting and sculpture. The ceiling of the exhibition room is covered by a 7 diameters plate pressed into the square. In another room a banner with the lettering "libertad para el chucrut" (freedom for the Sauerkraut) is leaned against the wall.
