Christoph Keller: Resisting the Anti-utilitarianism of Art

Clancco  ||   8 May 2008


"Intellectual Property: A Chronology Compendium of Intersections between Contemporary Art and Utility Patents," by Robert Thill, was first published in Leonardo: Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Science and Technology 37, no. 2 (2004), pp. 117-124. An expanded, adapted version of it is published here in serial form with the abstract, introduction, and summary extracted. Starting on March 10, 2008, a different project in the compendium will appear biweekly. Please note that each entry is a unique electronic publication and will not be stored in an online archive after the two-week publication period. Below is the thirteenth entry of this series (published here on August 25, 2008).

Keller_Helioflex_Down.jpg

Christoph Keller, View of sunlight reflected by a Helioflex device into the lower levels of a central air shaft of a residential building, Berlin, no date. Photo courtesy of Christoph Keller.


Christoph Keller: Resisting the Anti-utilitarianism of Art

Citing the diametrically opposed but shared impulses of practitioners in the fields of art and science to protect their cultural positions and limit their liability with regard to being perceived as irresponsible and defensive, Christoph Keller attempts to break down the barriers between art and science in order to find commonalities in these two fields of endeavor that are grounded in social engagement and usage. Contrasting the patent office with the museum, Keller clearly lays out his fundamental argument in an intriguing, stark statement, entitled "Antimuseum":

The patent-office is an anachronistic fortress of the polarity of art and technology. The main aim of its complicated system of rules and terminology is to limit the patent information to the mere technique and to prevent any cultural statement. The polarization of art and technology is a necessary condition for technical progress: It frees technology from questions of making sense and of existence. Since the early days of bourgeois society, this has become the task of culture, which, in turn, is freed from its responsibility for the effects of technology. But the scientific and the technological worlds, and the worlds of art and culture are in fact communicating social constructions that equally interact with political discourses, streams of thought, and changes of paradigms [1].

True to his critique, Keller's patented works resist the anti-utilitarianism of many art practices and the pro-utilitarianism of much scientific convention by blending artistic and technological forms that aspire to heterogeneous utopian social functions, which positions his work in both the analytical, activist realm of conceptual art and the technical, legal sphere of scientific invention [2]. The patented works include a 1991 camera that captures multiple simultaneous perspectives in panoramic photographs through the continuous movement of film over the shutter during exposure [3], replacing the "objectifying 'point of view' of traditional photography with a subjective line of perception," [4] and a 1999 device that systematically reflects sunlight into shaded areas of the built environment to brighten the occupants' existence [5,6]. These art-related patent works create a new visual experience through the manipulation of light and form and carry with them the lofty concepts of individually conceived vision and social enlightenment [7].


--Robert Thill is an independent writer


References and Notes:

1. Christoph Keller, "Antimuseum" (1995), Christoph Keller,
"Archive," "Texts," http://www.christophkeller.com/.

2. "I have two conceptual art projects involving real patents as part of the art project: Rundum-Photography and Helioflex both have been exhibited on various occasions and there is literature
around them." Quoted from an e-mail by Keller to the author, 26 November 2003.

3. Jörg Christoph Keller, "Camera for panorama and single-frame shots," German patent no. 4139890, 16 December 1993, filed 4 December 1991. For photographs by Keller using this patent invention, see Christoph Keller, "Photographs," http://www.christophkeller.com/. For more information about the invention, see the European Patent Office (EPO), http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=DE4139890&F=0 (the patent drawings are under the heading "Mosaic").

4. The idea and quote is from an e-mail by Keller to the author, 6 August 2007.

5. Jörg Christoph Keller, "Solar mirror for the reflection of sunlight into a specific direction with single-axle tracking," German patent no. 29903574, 15 July 1999, filed 17 February 1999. See, EPO, http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=DE29903574U&F=0&QPN=DE29903574U. For more information, see "Helioflex," http://www.helioflex.de/helioflex/helioflex.index.html.

6. When asked if either of the inventions was in commercial production, Keller responded: "Currently, there is no commercial production. But for years now I get at least one request a week for the [solar] mirror, which I usually leave unanswered." Seemingly in contrast to his statements in "Antimuseum," which appear to call for the joining of art and technology, he added in the same response, "I want to maintain and protect my life and profession as an artist." To provide a point of departure for this decision, he asked, "Do you know the book Der Gehülfe by Robert Walser on the life and tragedy of an inventor?" Returning to his earlier ideas, he added, "Still, I can imagine very well to continue the mirror project commercially together with a company or as an art project or both." All of the above quotes are from an e-mail by Keller to the author, 4 August 2007. (In fact, the patent for "Camera for panorama and single-frame shots" appears to have expired owing to nonpayment of the annual fee on 9 May 1996; see EPO [3]).

7. Keller [4]. "Actually, both of them [the art-related patents] contain a utopian message to change the world through the invention."

Previous Articles in the Series

"Lisa Schmitz's World Artistic Property Organization: A Patent-Office Equivalent for Art," August 11, 2008

"Walter Martin: Contemporary Witness to Historic Patent Drawings, " July 28, 2008

"Michael Asher: Circumstance and Perception of Originality," July 14, 2008

"Hubert Duprat: Stakeholders in Art, Science, Industry, Theory, and History Converge on a Fragile Casing Created by Individual Insect Larvae for the Purpose of Self-Protection," June 27, 2008

"Buckminster Fuller: Visual Reflections on Patent Inventions," June 13, 2008

"Nancy Burson: Exploring the Passage of Time through Morphing Portraits," June 2, 2008

"The European Patent Office: Contemporary Art as a Transcending Force in an Institutional Patent Context," May 19, 2008

"William W. Adkins: An Untrained Innovator Is Reclassified as a Visionary Artist," May 5, 2008

"Alice Hutchins: Moveable Elements in a Personal Magnetic Field," April 21, 2008

"Konrad Lueg: Centralizing the Spectator in an Ephemeral Art Invention," April 7, 2008

"Jean Tinguely: Kinetic Sculpture as an Expressive Drawing and Painting Device," March 24, 2008

"Yves Klein: Artistic Expression, Technological Progress, and Spiritual Evolution," March 10, 2008