Weltempfänger

Date2018

Maker Isa Genzken German, born 1948

Label TextIsa Genzken’s concrete and poignantly mute Weltempfänger radios—the German word for short-wave radios translates literally as “world receivers”—have a special resonance in a German context because the Nazi party used the radio as a propaganda tool. At the same time, radios allowed people in Germany to secretly dial in to the Allied stations. Far beyond the history of World War II, radio continues to play a defining role in political and cultural discourse today.

Object number2018.13

ProvenanceThe artist; [David Zwirner Gallery, New York]

Photo CreditCourtesy of David Zwirner Gallery

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Fair, David Zwirner Gallery, Aug. 2 - 5, 2018

Credit LinePurchased with funds provided by Virginia Wright and the Contemporary Collectors Forum. Additional support provided by Jon and Kim Shirley, Ann and Bruce Blume, Lynn and Mikal Thomsen, and Carol Kipling and David Tseklenis.

DimensionsOverall: 62 x 54 x 20 in. (157.5 x 137.2 x 50.8 cm) Part 1: 46 1/2 x 15 3/4 x 5 in. (118.1 x 40 x 12.7 cm) Part 2: 50 x 16 1/4 x 3 7/8 in. (127 x 41.3 x 9.8 cm) Part 3: 53 x 14 3/4 x 5 1/2 in. (134.6 x 37.5 x 14 cm) Part 4: 62 x 14 7/8 x 4 3/4 in. (157.5 x 37.8 x 12.1 cm) Part 5: 46 1/2 x 7 1/8 x 2 3/8 in. (118.1 x 18.1 x 6 cm) Part 6: 42 x 11 3/8 x 3 1/4 in. (106.7 x 28.9 x 8.3 cm) Part 7: 23 3/4 x 9 3/8 x 2 5/8 in. (60.3 x 23.8 x 6.7 cm)

MediumConcrete, brick, and metal antennae in seven parts