The End of the Tunnel

Paul Valéry wrote in “Eupalinos, or the Architect”: “It is not in my power to combine analysis and ecstasy, which would actually be my job. Yet this is exactly what the art critic is repeatedly called upon to do. Analysis does little for the installation “The End of the Tunnel”, because it merely dissects; and yet the strength of the work lies in synthesis, in the unusual intensity with which physical experience flows through all the senses, starting with what appears to be a relatively simple form for a simple idea.

Dorothy Walker 1984. Translated by e_CR editors

Ezra Pound already about 1912 introduced the term of Kulchur as a term of ironic convenience referring to globalistic Western culture. Gerz adopts this term in the subtitles of 9 Installations of the years 1979 to 1984. These installations are concerned once more with the relationship art – artist – viewer. By choosing integrated means of presentation, Gerz avoids definite statements and messages and constantly refers the viewer back to his own experiences and imaginations. In all this, the riddle plays its special role of encoding information. There are allusions to Duchamp and his questioning of the system of art… and to the unrestrained industrial will to creation and production. Museum rooms increasingly start to obstruct this will by walls and tunnel constructions, as for example in "Come on over to the dark side" (65), "The end of the tunnel" (75) and "Donna mi prega" (81).

Renate Petzinger, Volker Rattemeyer 2000