Kunstraum is a London based project space with a focus on solo exhibitions of artists based outside of the UK in London’s neighbouring European cities. Open since September 2012, Kunstraum, literally meaning ‘art room’ in German, seeks to form new relationships with the interconnected art scenes of Europe.

For his exhibition at Kunstraum, Peter Wächtler presents Tim and Racky (2011); a film in three acts, set in the fraternity house of Rotterdam’s oldest and largest student association, R.S.V. Sanctus Laurentius. The acting on display is wooden and awkward (a partial result of not being trained actors) and further exaggerated through the challenge of delivering the script in a language other than their own.

Wächtler’s films, texts and readings consistently offer elaborate constructions that offer us a well deserved detour from the banality of everyday existence into the fantastical filmic and literary genres of thrillers, B-movie horror, tragicomedy and dark romantic drama. For Wächtler, it would seem, his use of English as a native German speaker is approached as a vehicle to be manipula... [ Read all ]