Pin

Pin is published on the occasion of Jenni Tischer's eponymous exhibition at mumok in Vienna in 2014-2015. As this publication vividly captures, her work weaves an unlikely bond between minimalist sculpture and the frayed, human history of textile work.
Unlike conventional exhibitions, Tischer's gallery arrangement blurs the boundary between display and artwork: walls and floor interlock, open cubes intertwine with “Viennese netting” recalling Thonet chairs, and architectural objects allude to looms and pin cushions. Display elements such as pedestals or frames are integral narrative elements, while colorful “fabric pedestals,” reminiscent of unrolled scrolls, pepper the room. Here, minimalist sculpture is unraveled to reveal hidden histories.
This publication ponders the impact of Tischer's anachronistic practice: What is a medium, and what kind of information can it convey? How are work processes and human labor inscribed into materials and surfaces? And why are textiles, as fields of discourse and practice, gaining momentum in the digital age? Between “pins” (needles) and PINs (personal identification numbers), this book considers the memory of materials and the digital encoding of identities, staking out a space for the human in a polished design world.