Jakob Gautel: Tower of Babel

An overpowering tower on the Museum Balcony made of thousands of stacked books, reaching as high as the room, has made quite an impression since the end of March. With his "Babelturm" (2006), artist Jakob Gautel, who grew up in Karlsruhe and now works in Paris "among other places," contrasts the groing power of knowledge with the randomness of the constantly charged consumption of information in modern society. Does Jakob Gautel’s tower of books, as a symbol of intellectual elevation, a temple of knowledge and a sanctuary, also refer to the Babylonian confusion of languages, and to the image of an immense pyre built of books on which the ideal of enlightenment threatens to collapse?

On 12 April 2007, Jakob Gautel presents his photos, videos, books, installations, and interventions in public space as »Warum? Warum nicht anders?« [Why? Why not otherwise?]