Dirty Laundry

In her exhibition If You Put the Question in Wrong, Will the Answer Come Out Right?, Nina Kuttler traced two pioneers in the history of science who struggled for recognition during their respective lifetimes, despite having established fundamental insights that remain valid today. One of them, Agnes Pockels (1862 - 1935), was a German physical chemist and the first woman to be awarded an honorary doctorate. Despite her interest in science, Pockels gave up her studies in order to care for her sick parents and run the household after graduating from highschool. While washing dishes, she discovered the different effects of oil, soap and other household chemicals on the surface tension of water. Entitled Relations Between the Surface-Tension and Relative Contamination of Water Surfaces, Pockels published her seminal paper in the journal Nature. With her Jahresgabe, Nina Kuttler makes reference to washing dirty dishes, which led to Pockel's observations. The ceramics resemble dishrags. Stains and traces of dirt bear witness to the housework that has been done. With a little wink, Kuttler manifests the mundane activity as sculpture, giving new value to what is typically unpaid and invisible work.