Street Gang, 1992

Street Gang, 1992 – Assortment of 20 litter bins, selected and installed according to the picture in the manufacturer's catalogue, Aschaffenburg municipal area.

The collection of urban litter bins displayed here was purchased wholesale and left unchanged. Hörl did not even determine their order himself. The arrangement is identical to the one in a picture printed in a catalogue for such items. As the title of the work suggests, the artist is interested in the image of a gang of unequal one-legged fellows standing on the small piece of lawn as if they were waiting to set out on a joint mission. In doing so, Hörl, in a tongue-in-cheek manner, refers to the garbage problem of our time, which is one of the most evident issues of urban life ... A considerable part of the astonishing effect of »Street Gang« results from a comparison with the original image. Translating a catalogue photo into reality has amazing effects. In fact, we never looked at it that way before.[1]

[1] Thomas Röske, in: Stadt-Werke. Kunst zwischen Stift und Schloss, exhibition catalogue, ed. Neuer Kunstverein Aschaffenburg e. V., Aschaffenburg 1992, p. 32