Die Gute Form, es gibt sie nicht

Arne Schmitt’s works are subtle observations of everyday life that originate in photography. He combines the visual elements with texts that he has written himself or quoted and re-edited from historical sources.

At the artothek, Arne Schmitt presents a selection of photographs of the urban landscapes of Zurich and Cologne under the title “Die Gute Form, es gibt sie nicht” (The Good Form, It Doesn’t Exist), his latest book “Things” – an unusual blend of artist’s diary and travel guide – a video work on the Good Form of modern living, and a work in which he compares our relationships with cities to our human relationships.

The concept of ‘Good Form’ as a design ideal was developed in the early 20th century with the aim of educating the general public in aesthetics, hoping to mould them into better people. It became the basis for architectural concepts and the design of functional objects. To this day, the desire for functionality, clarity and beauty continues to resonate within “good design”. However, the focus is no longer on educating the tastes of a broadly conceived society, but rather on distinguishing oneself from the ordinary through personal economic and cultural capital.

Searching for manifestations of ‘good form’ in the everyday life of our modern cities, Arne Schmitt has, in his aesthetically precise photographs, discovered situations in which design ambition meets failed reality, in which sophisticated advertising aesthetics encounter insignificant everyday surroundings, and in which, nevertheless, an experience of beauty can be sensed – a beauty rooted more in authenticity than in abstract ideals.

The works in the exhibition share a common focus on the relationship between urban interior and exterior spaces, for which the setting of the artothek provides a particularly concise example.