The Stubborn Life of Things

We humans are invariably surrounded by things. They perform certain functions for us, whether as tools, toys, weapons, ornaments, commodities or gifts. But many of them elude our influence so that instead of controlling them, they control us, developing an unstoppable dynamism and formative energy of their own.
The works of the artists in “The Stubborn Life of Things” encourage us to think of things as more than just human prostheses and to see them rather as an archive of cultural practice or, more simply, as materialized ideas.
The art assembled here inspires us to look at hat stands, cars, wall tiles and such like with new eyes, less as things than as our accomplices.