Peter Wächtler
One night only (Dec 21st, 2015)
Shown continuously from sun-down until sun-up
From 3:54pm to 8:15am
Möckernstraße 68,
10965 Berlin, Germany
Once a year, the mid-winter Solstice marks a 24-hour period that holds the shortest day and the longest night of the year. At this annual turning point, night casts its longest shadow, daylight is at its shortest, and the effort of a single day is experienced at its most seasonal extreme. In this context for one night only, MAVRA presents Peter Wächtler's untitled animated film from 2013.
Wächtler's film features the character of a rat, who returns home to bed fatigued, day-in day-out in an endless cycle (presumably from working the brutal night shift). Marking the repetitious passage of time, a window in the background shows night transform into day and back again. Through celebration and discontent, habits and then bad habits, a narrator marks the progress and efforts of life, both routine and absurd in its nature.
Peter Wächtler (b. 1979, Hannover) lives in Brussels and Berlin. Recent solo shows include Reena Spaulings, New York; Westfälischer Kunstverein, Munster; dépendance, Brussels; Ludlow 38, New York; Kunstraum, London; and Lars Friedrich, Berlin. His work has also been included in group exhibitions at the New Museum, New York; the Liverpool Biennial 2014 and the Lyon Biennial 2013. His book of short stories, Come On, is available on Sternberg Press.