For his solo show Katzen & Architektur (Cats & Architecture) at Klosterfelde Edition, Wilhelm Klotzek satirizes current as well as peripheral themes in the form of an architectural model: a fragment of the north and east facades of the Humboldt Forum at the Berlin Palace including a construction fence, an unwelcoming staff entrance, a combative Verdi trade union poster, and a lurid advertising for a “Hans Klok Magic-Cheese Show” at the Schlüterhof on the Day of German Unity demonstrate the entire hopelessness surrounding the planning and building of this new Berlin headline architecture.

The illustrative, miniature-like quality of the model—underscored via the use of color and a comic-like drawing style that indicates windows, chandeliers, and visitors—contrasts with the austerely constructed, raw-steel pedestals and the materiality of models made of bent and at times rusty sheet metal. The backside resembles minimal sculptures, while the narrative takes place in front. Architectural models typically represent idealized projections into the future; Klotzek’s model by contrast is dedicated to existing or soon-to-be-anticipated grievances: the plaster is already crumbling on the palace facade even though the construction site is still in full swing.