La Zona
28 April - 03 June 2012
|
| Michael Danner, Asse-II, Remlingen 2011 |
| |
LA ZONA
28 April – 3 June 2012
Opening: 27 April, 19h
Participants:
Büro für Konstruktivismus, Michael Danner, Katja Davar, Amin Farzanefar,
Kim Feser, Ulrike Feser, Nina Fischer & Maroan el Sani, Ralf
Homann, Ins A Kromminga, Tara Mahapatra, Steven Matheson, Chris McGrane,
Esther Neumann, Lina Selander, Dylan Spaysky, Charles Stankievech,
Ashok Sukumaran, Florian Wüst, Daniel Young & Christian Giroux
The contributions of the show examine differently defined "zones” in an
experimental way, dealing with themes such as ecology und the
environment, technology and nuclear power, politics, pop culture, and
urban development. What the works have in common is the aspect that they
all explore: the ambivalence of mankind’s handling of disastrous events
and their repercussions.
In the exhibition, visitors encounter various types of zones: the
contaminated zone, the decontaminated zone, the post-contaminated zone,
the exploited zone, the protected zone, the ephemeral zone.
The most important content-related starting point and point of reference
for the organisers of the show is a film from 1979 that in a futuristic
manner describes the journey through a "zone”: In Andrej Tarkowskij’s
film of the same name, the figure of the Stalker leads a writer and a
scientist unauthorized into the "zone”, a restricted area sealed off by
the military. With his intuition and experience, he is able to make his
way through the Arcadian landscape of ruins filled with mysteries and
mortal dangers.
Shot seven years before the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Stalker can
be read as an anticipation of this incident and its consequences. The
film tells the story of a civilizational crisis of meaning taking hold
of all social sectors and providing no deliverance at all.
In both the film and the exhibition, the "zone”, in its vicissitude,
offers itself a surface of projection for the notions of progress and
enlightenment. At the same time, it attests our disrupted relationship
to natural resources. A zone often originates after an event brought
about or influenced by humans. In retrospect, the way in which the
occurrence and its effects are dealt with often appears as a vain
attempt – the zone becomes a central motif of media coverage, an object
of research, a memorial, or the destination of excursions. The imminent
powerlessness is held at bay by efforts to explain and clarify. Are the
traditional instruments of human cognition in the form of science, art
and religion failing? The exhibition addresses these and related
questions.
A publication in German and English will appear.
La Zona – english edition: 978-3-938515-49-5
La Zona - deutsche Ausgabe: ISBN: 978-3-938515-48-8
Publisher: NGBK
Project group: Sandra Bartoli, Michael Danner, Ulrike Feser, Silvan Linden und Florian Wüst
www.ngbk.de
|