KP Brehmer
Regenschachtel

For the small-format object graphic Regenschachtel (rain box), KP Brehmer’s contribution to the rolling cabinet En Bloc (EB20), the artist mounted a cliché print on cardboard. The cardboard is folded in the shape of a box opened at the side. The die-cut shape of a stylized cloud can be seen on the top. The word Regen (rain) is printed underneath in white. The box is filled with white absorbent cotton, which can be seen through the cut-out and thus imitates a cloud. There are dried peas in the open part of the box.
With Regenschachtel, Brehmer continues a series of works created between 1965 and 1967 that adapt elements of product design. These are mostly prints mounted on cardboard, which Brehmer then folds and assembles into boxes and displays (see also Das Gefühl zwischen Fingerkuppen …, EB25). Visually, the objects resemble product packaging and advertising displays that could be found in many stores – including the goods themselves. As in Das Gefühl zwischen Fingerkuppen … (EB25), Brehmer ironically demonstrates the commodity-aesthetic link between object and commodity by creating seemingly nonsensical combinations between the printed images on the packaging and the objects. Inspired by the acoustic association of the sound of pattering rain with the sound of falling peas, the legumes in Regenschachtel are combined with the weather phenomenon.
Text: Katrin Seemann