Action and Paper

by 
Tomas Schmit am Zeichentisch in seiner Wohnung in Berlin, Bleibtreustrasse 3,1978. Foto: Dagmar Gebers; © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin

Tomas Schmit was a key figure in the Fluxus movement of the early 1960s. Work by the artist, who died in 2006, is the subject of a comprehensive retrospective at Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) and Kupferstichkabinett, on view throughout Berlin Art Week. We present a preview selection of Schmit’s drawings.

Tomas Schmit’s Fluxus colleague Nam June Paik once said that he would much rather have been Tomas Schmit than Nam June Paik. Though Schmit was hardly one of the best-known representatives of the Fluxus movement—at least nowhere near as prominent as Paik—he was certainly one of its most radical. From his early interventions to the books, texts, editions, and drawings to which Schmit increasingly shifted, the artist’s practice—spanning from the early 1960s until his death in 2006—yielded an extensive, boundary-breaking oeuvre that merged everyday life and art, language and image, performance and writing.

Neue Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) will not only show a number of original scores of Schmit’s early interventions and have them performed, it is also developing a number of new interpretations and formats in collaboration with contemporary artists including Nina Canell, Hajnal Németh, and Alexandra Pirici. Meanwhile Kupferstichkabinett, which provided us with the works shown here, puts the spotlight on Schmit’s drawings. The exhibition, entitled ›making things‹, shows works on paper created over a period of nearly 40 years. Like other works by Schmit, the drawings are characterised not only by a particular verbal and linguistic wit and a certain, at times laconic lightness, but also by a kind of eventfulness—›making things‹, you could say.

and how they rise from nothing II, 1978, tomas schmit archiv, Berlin. © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin
das ist alles!, 21.6.1992, Privatsammlung, Köln. © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin

das sind die burschen, 15.1.2002, tomas schmit archiv, Berlin. © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin
der grüne durchschlupf vom ding zum hirn, 1974, tomas schmit archiv, Berlin. © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin Blei- und Farbstift, Tusche, Brot auf Papier 61 x 43 cm tomas schmit archiv, Berlin
eine sehr schöne geschichte, aus: 2t sch8l, ’17. karton‘ der edition hundertmark, Berlin, 25.04.1972, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, Graphisches Gesellschaf zu Berlin, Id.-Nr. GGB 2-2018. Foto: Dietmar Katz © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin

diverse lustobjekte, 12.10.1985, Sammlung Bayer AG, Leverkusen. © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin
fisherman’s daughter’s teddy’s favorite mock-spaghettis, 15.8.1993, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Sammlung Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung im Sprengel Museum Hannover, NSKS 6171/02-05. © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin

from the history of consciousness I, 14.9.2003, Deichtorhallen Hamburg / Falckenberg Collection. © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin
from the history of consciousness II, 17.9.2003, Deichtorhallen Hamburg / Falckenberg Collection. © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin

from the history of consciousness III, 20.9.2003, Deichtorhallen Hamburg / Falckenberg Collection. © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin
uto 12, aus: utopia, 41. karton der edition hundertmark, 30.07.1975, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, Graphisches Gesellschaf zu Berlin, Id.-Nr. GGB 3-2018. Foto: Dietmar Katz © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin
portugal-trilogie: frecher hut, 7.9.1999, Privatsammlung, Münster. © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin

john cage‘s fahrrad, tauchend, 29.4.2002, Privatsammlung, Hamburg. © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin
mistparadies 6, 1984, Privatsammlung, Köln. © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin
john cage‘s fahrrad, fliegend, 29.4.2002, Privatsammlung, Hamburg. © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin

portugal-trilogie: bisschen zukniepen, 10.9.1999, Privatsammlung, Münster. © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin
what do you mean by asking what do you mean said the wallpaper to the paperwall and there was no reply or two, 16.5.1993, Galerie Michael Werner, Märkisch Wilmersdorf, Köln & New York (TSZ 102). © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin
portugal-trilogie: pru portu, 17.9.1999, Privatsammlung, Münster. © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin

sockel zum raufkucken und sockel zum runterkucken, 1975, tomas schmit archiv, Berlin. © tomas schmit archiv, Berlin

NEUER BERLINER KUNSTVEREIN (N.B.K)
Tomas Schmit. Stücke, Aktionen, Dokumente 1962—1970
16 SEP 2021—23 JAN 2022
Opening 15 SEP, noon—10pm

KUPFERSTICHKABINETT BERLIN
sachen m a c h e n. Tomas Schmit: Zeichnung, Aktion, Sprache 1970—2006
15 SEP 2021—9 JAN 2022
Opening 15 SEP, 10am—6pm

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