Michael Sailstorfer

Michael Sailstorfer (b. 1979, Germany) lives and works in Berlin, Germany. He holds an MA in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths, University of London, UK (2003-2004).

Michael Sailstorfer’s site-specific interventions emphasize transformation and challenge conventional rubrics of sculpture. He gives objects new meanings and functions by reconfiguring, though not deconstructing, them. Much of Sailstorfer’s work involves breaking down an object to reveal its physical components, as in the case of Zeit ist keine Autobahn (Time is not a motorway) (2005). The work features a spinning, motor-powered tire pressed against a wall; as the tire wears down, rubber particles collect on the floor and the scent of burning rubber fills the installation space. Sailstorfer cites the site-specific, performative work of Gordon Matta-Clark as a key influence, and says he is “interested in what sculpture can be and how a sculpture can spread out and use much more space than it physically has.”