Heidelberger Kunstverein

Ulf Aminde
“Der Noth gehorchend, nicht dem eignen Trieb”
(obeying need, not my own inclination)

The title for this exhibition is a quote from the first act of Friedrich Schiller's ›The Bride of Messina‹, a ›tragedy with choruses‹. For Ulf Aminde the opening speech of the drama forms a starting point for his own work. It describes the deployment of the chorus as a living wall, an interruption in the action of the drama. Walter Benjamin writes on the epic theatre of Bertold Brecht that the interruption of the action is an alienation effect that creates the possibility for reflection. This thought forms the leitmotif for Aminde's performative work.

Ulf Aminde's art practice discusses socially relevant questions through photography, drawing, film and performance. By analysing various social groupings he develops images that address the need for community forming. Role finding, identity, crisis, and the position of the artist in relation to these things, are central to his performances. His “social machineries and complicities” (Ulf Aminde) deal with questions about the individual in relation to the community.

For the Heidelberg Kunstverein Ulf Aminde will present a spectrum of community in the context of his multi-disciplinary work, also extending his investigations to Heidelberg itself by involving local people. Aminde's photographs, drawings and videos have been brought together in the rooms of the Kunstverein to form a collective of working approaches. His explorations of “Reden an die Nachgeborenen” (speeches to future generations), “Chor der Unterbrechung” (the chorus of interruption), the “Streikorchester” (lit. strike orchestra - a play on “streichorchester” meaning string orchestra), the “Diskurs-Ding” (discourse thing) and the “Kommenden Gemeinschaft” (the approaching community) form the core focus of the exhibition. They will also be re-performed on five occasions together with people from the local community. These joint forms of presentation put Aminde's own position as artist up for discussion. Existing works are given a new relevance in situ, continuously re-concentrated into an image structured by the exhibition space and its surroundings.

At a time when autonomous artistic works can no longer be regarded as a given, this collage of highly diverse working approaches describes at once a sense of urgency and the possibilities and lines of flight that exist between self-assertion and social responsibility.


Ulf Aminde was born in Stuttgart in 1969. He lives and works in Berlin.



Programme of events in line with the exhibition

Friday 9th March 2012, Private View 7pm
Ulf Aminde “Der Noth gehorchend, nicht dem eignen Trieb”
8pm Act One: “An die Nachgeborenen” (to future generations) choir of voices featuring members of the Heidelberg Kunstverein

Friday 20th April 2012, 7pm
Seeing with commentary: “Survival of the Fittest” by and featuring Ulf Aminde. Guests: Till Velten and other artists. Followed by drinks at the bar.

Saturday 21st April 2012 Long Night of the Museums
8pm + 9pm Act Two: “Chor der Unterbrechung” (choir of interruption) with students from Heidelberg University.

Sunday 29th April 2012, 4pm
Act Three: Streikorchester “Joseph Haydn Abschiedsadagio” (Joseph Haydn Farewell Adagio) with the Musikfreunde Heidelberg ensemble conducted by René Schuh

Thursday 3rd May 2012, 7pm
Seeing with commentary: “Welcome Home + lust” by and featuring Ulf Aminde. Guest: PD Dr. Gerald Schröder, Ruhr University Bochum. Followed by drinks at the bar.

Friday 4th May 2012, 7pm
Act Four: “Das bisschen Diskurs, das wir brauchen, machen wir uns schon selber.“ (what little bit of discourse we need, we see to ourselves). A Discourse Thing with Professor Felix Ensslin and students of the Stuttgart State Academy of Fine Arts. Followed by drinks at the bar.

Friday 11th May 2012, 7pm
Seeing with commentary: “Frontalunterricht” (frontal lesson) by and featuring Ulf Aminde. Guest: Judith Keil, documentary filmmaker. Followed by drinks at the bar.

Sunday 13th May 2012, 3pm
Act Five: “Die kommende Gemeinschaft” (the approaching community)
Procession on the Heiligenberg. Meeting point in front of the Kunstverein