Logic will get you from point A to point B, but imagination will get you everywhere.

The above title quote is paraphrased from something Albert Einstein said and what I think is a crucial point when talking about working outside of conventional roles that I discussed yesterday. Limiting yourself to the choices presented to you can lead to an uninspired life, especially if you fancy yourself an artist. It takes courage and ambition to try and create your own path, insert cliche Robert Frost quote here. An example of someone I regard as charting their own course is Christine Hill. She has been a great source of inspiration for me over the past year. She runs a small retail shop in Berlin that’s called Volksboutique which has taken many forms over the years, including mobile versions of the concept which have shown at exhibitions.

At this point Christine Hill’s Volksboutique has become somewhat of a household name in the art world, having exhibited in various museums and galleries around the globe…but it started out as just an idea that existed outside of that context. A quote by Christine that embodies this idea is from her book Inventory, where she explains “the subtext,” for Volksboutique “is to create a desired occupation out of materials and opportunities immediately available. To not wait for someone to provide said opportunity, but to realize it oneself.”

Essentially, when Christine started, Volksboutique began as a second hand thrift store but through her imagined framework and contextualization she created so much more. That’s what makes Volksboutique so great, in the beginning it was conceived as a way she could engage with an art audience on her terms and without excluding a more general public…while also making money to pay the rent. Her ingenuity was especially apparent in her BFA thesis where she raffled off the chance to win her 1982 Chevy Chevette. One of my favorite elements of Volksboutique that have become a mainstay in all iterations are the hand painted signs she incorporates with each execution. Sometimes they are philosophical quotes related to ideas around exchange and other times being directly informational.

Volksboutique could exist entirely outside of the art world but what makes it interesting is that it engages from several angles, all of which are valid. Tomorrow I’ll discuss an artist who operates entirely outside of the art world that really had an impact on the way I think about art…