Image credits see below
Andere Verhältnisse
Annual Exhibition of the Association of Visual Artists
20 January – 25 February 2024
Participating artists: Jared Bartz, Anna Bochkova, Miriam Breig, Christine Brey, Kai Brüninghaus, Martin Conrad, Anne Dingkuhn, Bojana Fuzinato, Janine Gerber, Anna Goldmund, Simone Kesting, Vivi Linnemann, Lena Oehmsen, Stefan Oppermann, Jadranko Rebec, Jacques Sehy, Ursula Steuler
Opening
Friday, 19 January 2024, 7 pm
Welcome: Johann Walther Seidensticker (BBK Hamburg), Èv van Hettmer (Artist, jury member)
Introduction: Dr. Thomas Piesbergen (Freelance author)
8 pm: Gegenwart der Utopie – Performance by Anna Goldmund
The most tragic form of loss isn’t the loss of security; it’s the loss of the capacity to imagine that things could be different. – Ernst Bloch
The German philosopher Ernst Bloch (1885–1977) considered human hope as the driving force for social improvements and as the key to a future worth living. According to Bloch, the foundations for shaping a better world are already embedded in people’s wishes and dreams. To him, utopia is not just an unrealistic fantasy, but rather represents a real opportunity. Art plays a crucial role in his theory: it renders the unfulfilled visible, serves to express alternative visions and is thus able to initiate processes of change.
Drawing on Bloch’s theory of “concrete utopia”, the group exhibition Andere Verhältnisse aims to open up associative spaces for a reshaping of reality and encourages us to adopt new perspectives. The 17 artistic positions selected by a jury address topical and pressing issues concerning social coexistence as well as the relationship between people and their environment. Spanning a range of media, they challenge conventions and explore social visions of the future.
The selected works revolve around three thematic focuses: Some of the artists have created dreamlike landscapes and amorphous structures with their sculptures and installations – conceiving speculative, or in some cases escapist realities beyond capitalist endeavours geared towards growth. Others place the human body at the centre of their work – as something mutable and hybrid. Here, references to historical representations of the body and associated future narratives serve as a starting point for breaking down seemingly rigid assumptions, for instance, regarding the relationship between the female and nature or humans and machines. Other positions have adopted a formal aesthetic approach to the exhibition theme: through a playful engagement with composition, material and colour, they explore the relationship between chaos and order along with the potential that lies therein. The selection of works is rounded off by two performative pieces highlighting aspects of the ephemeral and transforming the exhibition hall itself into a space of possibility.
Choice of topic: Beatrice Dettmann, Èv van Hettmer, Joachim Jacob, Zhiyi Liu, Peter Schindler
Jury: Èv van Hettmer, Joachim Jacob, Zhiyi Liu, Peter Schindler
Realisation: Èv van Hettmer
Guided tours
Thursday, 25 January, 5 pm
Sunday, 11 February, 3 pm
Accompanying programme
Gegenwart der Utopie – Performance by Anna Goldmund
Every Wednesday, 3 pm
Papier Raumkörper – Performance by Janine Gerber
Thursday, 8 February, 6 pm
Artist talk with Jared Bartz, Anna Bochkova, Janine Gerber and Lena Oehmsen
Moderated by: Èv van Hettmer
Thursday, 8 February, 7 pm
Image 1: Anna Bochkova, Alien Commitment, 2023 (Detail), Photo: Florent Jalon
Image 2: Miriam Breig, no title, 2020
Image 3: Janine Gerber, Papier Raumkörper, 2022, Performance, Gollan Kulturwerft Lübeck, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023, Photo: Darko Velazquez
Image 4: Lena Oehmsen, Waldlandschaft mit See (0,25–12 Std. /11.–14. LM), 2023, Photo: Lena Oehmsen