FRAMEWORK CONSTRUCTION 26
I am nature. The vulnerability.
Survival in the risk society.
ROHKUNSTBAU 26 is the second exhibition that was created and carried out under Corona conditions. The corona pandemic has made the situation of artists more difficult. The presentation of one's own work in exhibitions, the communication with others about one's own work was missing for many months. A lack of earnings is also one of the consequences of the closings and constantly postponed exhibitions.
We all hope that science and medicine will defeat the corona pandemic and that everyone can return to their beloved forms of life. But this hope can be disappointed. Nature and humans are part of it, have a fragile equilibrium and only work in this equilibrium. The constant creation of imbalances in the natural interplay of plants, animals and humans in favor of a consumption-oriented lifestyle currently has unforeseeable consequences or the way out is open.
ROHKUNSTBAU 26 is dedicated to the topic “ I am nature - From vulnerability. Survival in the risk society " (19.06. - 03.10.2021) the deep existential insecurities that have been triggered for many people by the corona pandemic. The starting point is our relationship to nature and the instrumental understanding of nature and its consequences, which are shaped by ideas of omnipotence. For a long time now, there has been an increasing number of scientific voices that put the causal connections between climate change and loss of biodiversity on the one hand and the pushing back of the habitats of other living beings into a fruitful relationship with the outbreak of pandemics on the other. The destruction of the natural foundations of life by man exposes mankind to the dangers of disease and death. Due to fears in times of the pandemic, people do not consider responsibility for their own actions, but project them onto nature itself and the invisible dangers. Viruses that humans cannot see, hear, touch, taste or smell, destroy everyday life.
The response to the pandemic, the fear of the imperceptible, is reminiscent of the nuclear disasters in Fukushima 10 years ago and Chernobyl 35 years ago. Radioactivity, which cannot be perceived by humans, occurred in large quantities as a result of the disasters in the environment. In the case of the imperceptible, people increasingly lose the opportunity to protect themselves. This is a heavy burden, initially individual and then also social. At the same time, the exhibition also revolves around the options, opportunities and new cultural strategies that arise from awareness of the threat.
The works of the 22 internationally active artists invited were either designed for the exhibition in Lieberose Castle or carefully selected from their holdings. The theme “I am nature” runs through the exhibited works by the invited artists. For many of the invited artists, this theme is decisive in their work.
The works range from subtle interventions in the castle rooms (Daniel Steegmann Mangrané) to the sculptural feeling of fear (Michael Morgner), looking at discomfort (Kapwani Kiwanga) to the hopeful gesture of being able to hang one's own wishes on trees (TOWER OF LOVE by Yoko Ono).
The art should be experienced with all the senses, as in the work of Tong Kunniao - since it is often about ineffable areas in between. In the former castle kitchen the visitor moves through seven tons of sand to the art of Michael Müller. And existing cultural techniques such as the memory of objects that our grandparents have cherished or conscious relaxation methods through the suggestive sound of the sea (Laure Prouvost) should help to re-anchor one's own existence, which has become noticeably unsound, as Armin Boehm did in his "relationship pictures" from the time of the Pandemic shows.
“I am nature” is the exhibition's credo. Man is a part of nature, he is not above nature. It seems a banal insight that is nevertheless explosive. Because it is a truth that is deeply inscribed in people and society, which is just as meaningful, joyful and frightening (for example with Gilbert & George and Anna Rún Tryggvadóttir).
A large area of nature is characterized by its visible and powerful forces. For example destructive fire like in the drawings by David Claerbaut, graphic traces of water in the sand caused by the tides (Daniel Steegmann Mangrané), natural manipulations in botany (Jochen Dehn) and colonizing plants (Nadia Lichtig).
The emerging new unease in society results from the failure of our dealings with nature - with the consequences of the destruction of ecosystems. The pandemic brought these dangers and associated fears to Europe, which people on other continents have long been suffering. In dealing with the civil and military use of nuclear power, artists such as Yhonnie Scarce, Claudia Chaseling as well as Nina Fischer & Maroan el Sani and Luzia Simons refer to the collective memory of the apocalyptic images of the disasters.