Charlotte Posenenske in action

On the occasion of the exhibition “Minimal”, the Bourse de Commerce presents Serie DW, an exceptional performance by German artist Charlotte Posenenske (1930–1985), during which her sculptures are assembled live on the Auditorium stage from corrugated cardboard modules. The performance will be followed by a screening of her film Monotonie ist schön (1968).

Program 

• 6:30pm : Serie DW (performance)
• 7:15pm : Monotonie ist schön (projection) 

In 1960s Germany, Charlotte Posenenske developed a groundbreaking body of work that challenged the very notions of authorship and ownership. In 1967, she created two sculpture series—Vierkantrohre Serie D and Serie DW—the first made of galvanized sheet steel, the second of undulated cardboard. Each consists of multiple modular elements with standardized geometric forms ; square or rectangular tubes, corner pieces, and transition components. Conceived as prototypes for infinite industrial production, these sculptures offer an unlimited potential for combination.

The works were sold at production cost price, and their assembly was left to those who purchased or displayed them—the “consumers,” as Charlotte Posenenske called them. By the late 1960s, her project was widely exhibited across Europe and activated before multiple audiences. Each installation became a performance of construction and transformation, where meaning emerged through spatial negotiation and collaboration. In 1968, at the age of 38, she decided to withdraw from the art world, seeing no further potential for social change within it, and devoted herself instead to a PhD in the sociology of industrial labor.