The Mechanical Corps
11 Apr - 12 Jul 2015
THE MECHANICAL CORPS
On the Trail of Jules Verne
11 April - 12 July 2015
Curated by Peter Lang (†) and Christoph Tannert
Three months, 6452 Visitors and a bunch of great events... It has been a successful exhibition for us!
Steam engines, clockworks, cogs and gears, valves and pistons, copper, riveted steel and leather – the retro-futuristic world of steampunk is fascinating more and more hobbyists and novelists, nostalgists and utopists, established artists and eager amateurs.
For `The Mechanical Corps ́ curators Peter Lang (†) and Christoph Tannert have gathered a formidable collection of contemporary objects and artworks whose aesthetics hark back to the late nineteenth century. Their exhibition explores a phenomenon that can be observed in visual arts, fashion, design, literature, film and comics since the 1980s, namely, a growing fascination with the functionality, beauty and utopian potential of technologies developed in the heyday of industrialisation. Paradoxically, they attraction seems to grow as modern life is increasingly determined by invisible and impenetrable technology, acceleration and constant information.
`The Mechanical Corps ́ is an exhilarating hodgepodge of artefacts from the realms of contemporary art, popular culture and subculture. It assembles sophisticated mechanical devices, Victorian-inspired costumes, mind-boggling designs and crazed inventions that bring to mind the fantastical worlds of Jules Verne, while blurring the boundaries between art, handicraft and DIY as well as the distinction between experts and nerds.
The exhibition was first shown at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin and will be staged in Dortmund in memoriam of Peter Lang, who sadly passed away last year.
An Exhibition with works by:
Yoshi Akai (JP), Atak (DE), Roland Boden (DE), Jean-Pierre Bouvet (FR), James Capper (GB), Wendy Esmeralda Castillo (MX), Stefan Fahrnländer (DE), Eric Freitas (US), Roland Fuhrmann (DE), Andreas Gerth (DE), Gregor Hildebrandt (DE), Karl Hans Janke (DE), Thomas Kellner (DE), Yunchul Kim (KR), Alicja Kwade (DE), Peter Langer (DE), Gerard van Lankveld (NL), Via Lewandowsky (DE), Florian Mertens (BE), Gustav Mesmer (DE), Mœbius (FR), Richard »Doc« Nagy (US), Nik Nowak (DE), Donna Ong (SG), Panamarenko (BE), Michael Sailstorfer (DE), Alexander Schlesier – Steampunker (DE), Henrik Schrat (DE), François Schuiten (BE), Amanda Scrivener (GB), Steam Noir - Verena Klinke, Felix Mertikat (DE), Haruo Suekichi (JP), Philip Topolovac (DE), Brecht Vandenbroucke (BE), Viron Erol Vert (DE), Jos de Vink (NL), Takashi Watabe (JP), Bert Wrede (DE), Ralf Ziervogel (DE) und anderen
On the Trail of Jules Verne
11 April - 12 July 2015
Curated by Peter Lang (†) and Christoph Tannert
Three months, 6452 Visitors and a bunch of great events... It has been a successful exhibition for us!
Steam engines, clockworks, cogs and gears, valves and pistons, copper, riveted steel and leather – the retro-futuristic world of steampunk is fascinating more and more hobbyists and novelists, nostalgists and utopists, established artists and eager amateurs.
For `The Mechanical Corps ́ curators Peter Lang (†) and Christoph Tannert have gathered a formidable collection of contemporary objects and artworks whose aesthetics hark back to the late nineteenth century. Their exhibition explores a phenomenon that can be observed in visual arts, fashion, design, literature, film and comics since the 1980s, namely, a growing fascination with the functionality, beauty and utopian potential of technologies developed in the heyday of industrialisation. Paradoxically, they attraction seems to grow as modern life is increasingly determined by invisible and impenetrable technology, acceleration and constant information.
`The Mechanical Corps ́ is an exhilarating hodgepodge of artefacts from the realms of contemporary art, popular culture and subculture. It assembles sophisticated mechanical devices, Victorian-inspired costumes, mind-boggling designs and crazed inventions that bring to mind the fantastical worlds of Jules Verne, while blurring the boundaries between art, handicraft and DIY as well as the distinction between experts and nerds.
The exhibition was first shown at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin and will be staged in Dortmund in memoriam of Peter Lang, who sadly passed away last year.
An Exhibition with works by:
Yoshi Akai (JP), Atak (DE), Roland Boden (DE), Jean-Pierre Bouvet (FR), James Capper (GB), Wendy Esmeralda Castillo (MX), Stefan Fahrnländer (DE), Eric Freitas (US), Roland Fuhrmann (DE), Andreas Gerth (DE), Gregor Hildebrandt (DE), Karl Hans Janke (DE), Thomas Kellner (DE), Yunchul Kim (KR), Alicja Kwade (DE), Peter Langer (DE), Gerard van Lankveld (NL), Via Lewandowsky (DE), Florian Mertens (BE), Gustav Mesmer (DE), Mœbius (FR), Richard »Doc« Nagy (US), Nik Nowak (DE), Donna Ong (SG), Panamarenko (BE), Michael Sailstorfer (DE), Alexander Schlesier – Steampunker (DE), Henrik Schrat (DE), François Schuiten (BE), Amanda Scrivener (GB), Steam Noir - Verena Klinke, Felix Mertikat (DE), Haruo Suekichi (JP), Philip Topolovac (DE), Brecht Vandenbroucke (BE), Viron Erol Vert (DE), Jos de Vink (NL), Takashi Watabe (JP), Bert Wrede (DE), Ralf Ziervogel (DE) und anderen