Imagine, following the echoes of a story, a myth or fable, as if these were breadcrumbs jesting towards a place distant and past. Indeed, imagine following this trail as it guides you some place far flung. temporal spelunking, as the title of this exhibition suggests, is not a fixed object of study. Coined by the artists Tim Berresheim and Rechonski on the occasion of this artistic conversation, the phrase alludes to a process: the investigation of time’s sedimental layers. Specifically, the exploration of folklore and how these tales malform as they physically move with and across generations.

Caves, tunnels and human inferences upon the earth’s belly, have often served as sites of cultural inquiry. The Hohle Fels cave in Germany’s Swabian Jura mountain range and the chalky Uffington White Horse carved into England’s Oxfordshire hills not only record the presence of human beings long since gone but, in their material qualities, allude to rich histories and narrative traditions. Working with the metaphor of a cave, in temporal spelunking, Tim and Rechonski focus on how stories physically unearthed in such places travel across time. Bringing together images and objects, as well as other quizzical gestures, the exhibition pays attention to the way stories are embodied in associative found objects—artefacts to use a more scientific term. The pair, individually and together, are not only interested in the allusive nature of such objects but, more so, in how the materiality of these symbolic forms leak, infusing the priory tale with a new narrative sheen.

Listening to various object-tellers, their sites and contexts, temporal spelunking leans into the material transmission of ancient stories. Here, using stuttery echoes and reverberations, a speculative conduit is collaboratively formed alike a tunnel or deep path. one is lead through towards far off narratives, be these magical, mysterious, digitally informed or with an instinctive sense of human hapticity.

Rechonski’s series of modular sculptures, titled Familial Tunnel System, combine disused armrests from British railway trains with newly printed 3D tunnels. Building upon Rechonski’s interest in journeys within journeys and the narrative subtleties that abound through life, if given the opportunity, the works ask us to attend differently to how we move through the world. Indeed, to recognise the mundane poetry which surrounds us.

The series of prints presented here by Tim Berresheim each depict a 3D render of a fabulous cave. Drawn from Tim’s own spatial scanning of a cave complex in Germany, each print is an anomalous rearrangement of catacombs and chambers. Part stage, part model the works have a prelusive quality, a strange sci-fi feel.

Artist biographies

Tim Berresheim (b.1975, Heinsberg, Germany), studied at the Hochschule der Bildende Künste in Braunschweig and the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf.

select solo exhibitions include: New Old World, NRW Forum, Düsseldorf, Germany (2024); The Cicerone and the Phoenix, Galerie Elisabeth and Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart, Germany (2023); Caverna, Augen & Welt, Aachen, Germany (2023); La Grotta della Fenice, Lo Spaventapasseri – JUBG, Cologne, Germany (2022);The Eye in New Practice (AAWNK), Galerie Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart, Germany (2020); Störgrösse (AAWNK), Galerie Falko Alexander, Cologne, Germany (2020); Tim Berresheim. Works 2007-2018, Office Reiner Opoku, Berlin, Germany (2019); Sleep Walk, Ruttkowski;68, Paris, France (2019); Smashin’ Time II – Kunst Raum Riehen, Riehen, Germany (2018); Harry Rag, Belmacz, London, UK (2018); Smashin’ Time, Kunst & Denker Contemporary, Düsseldorf, Germany (2017); New strength from old roots, Meliksetian Briggs, Los Angeles, USA (2016); Hui Buh BBQ, Burg Frankenberg, Aachen, Germany (2016)Tim Berresheim. 2003-2015, Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany (2015); Eye and World, Art Association for the Rhineland and Westphalia, Düsseldorf, Germany (2014).

Tim lives and works in Aachen, Germany.

Rechonski (b. 1999, London, UK), studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London, UK.

select exhibitions include: Well Worn, SET Ealing, London, UK (2023); Group Show, project space, London, UK (2023); The Art Of The Football Scarf, OOF, London, UK (2022); Equal quantities of everything, Shop Front, London, UK (2022); Unsafe at any Speed, Morton St. Partners, London, UK (2022); To Live & Think Like Pigs, SHIFT Cardiff, UK (2022); mind forg’d manacles, FILET, London, UK (2021); unsellable, JUST/a studio, London, UK (2021); Anti-Social Isolation, Saatchi Gallery & Delphian Gallery, London, UK (2020); Secret 7”, NOW Gallery, London, UK (2020); Idle Thoughts, Soho Revue, London, UK (2020); When Shit Hits The Fan, Guts Gallery, London, UK (2020); 251st Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (2019); The Art of Activism, theprintspace, London, UK (2019); Thumbnail, Nolias Gallery, London, UK (2018); Cash is King, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (2018); 50/50, The Crows Nest Gallery, London, UK (2018); Hix Award, Hix Gallery, London, UK (2018); BLACK, The Crypt Gallery, London, UK (2018).

Rechonski lives and works in London, UK.