ZURICH.- In his wide-ranging cycles of works, each of which is devoted to a unifying thematic narrative, the Swiss artist Florian Germann (b. 1978; lives and works in Zurich) creates complex systems of reference, playing with the role of the artist-researcher. As points of departure for these individual experimental arrangements, Germann uses characters from history such as Napoleon or motifs from myth and fantasy such as lycanthropy (from the Greek lukos, "wolf," and anthropos, "man": the werewolf motif), which he subjects to a revisionary rewriting, interweaving factual and fictional aspects. For his first solo exhibition at an institution, Germann creates an extensive new cycle of works; to be on public display for the first time at the migros museum für gegenwartskunst, it is based on his study of apparitions and their physical substance, the so-called ectoplasm.

Florian Germann's new cycle of works "The Poltergeist Experimental Group (PEG) Applied Spirituality and Physical Spirit Manifestation" examines the phenomena of the Poltergeist and ectoplasm. Germann: "Ectoplasm is a synaesthetic material. It responds to physical moods. That struck me as an interesting point of departure for the creation of bodies that would respond physically to their environments. Ectoplasm, of course, appears in the movie Ghostbusters (1984), where it plays a leading role; but in parapsychology more generally, it is an important 'material of study.' It can also be found in cell biology, where it displays the same characteristics: there too it is a material that changes depending on its environment."

EXHIBITION: For his first solo exhibition at an institution, Florian Germann (b. 1978; lives and works in Zurich) has developed a new cycle of works that will be on public display for the first time at the migros museum für gegenwartskunst. It is based on the phenomenon of apparitions and their physical substance, called ectoplasm. Florian Germann's works have been on display at Kunsthaus Glarus (group exhibition, 2010), at the Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris (group exhibition, 2010), and at Galerie BolteLang, Zurich (solo exhibition, 2010).

EXHIBITION CATALOGUE: JRP|Ringier will publish a monograph on Florian Germann's work featuring essays by Alexandra Blättler and Raphael Gygax as well as a conversation with the artist. The book's publication will coincide with the closing of the exhibition.