ON THE METAPHOR OF GROWTH
27 May - 31 Jul 2011
The international exhibition project “On the Metaphor of Growth” (Über die Metapher des Wachstums) is a cooperation between the Kunstverein Hannover, the Frankfurter Kunstverein and the Kunsthaus Baselland. Each of the three exhibitions places a different accent on artistic responses to the concept of growth, while demonstrating the present-day ambivalence that it arouses in terms of its economic, biological, and social implications.
“Growth” generally has positive connotations and is seen as a desirable process: the growth of plants, children, capital assets, pensions, and the economy as a whole. As a concept initially associated with biology, it suggests something natural. In relation to society, a belief in growth and progress can determine the general direction of a society, for example, the development of the individual as passing through the phases of education, a professional career, and starting a family. Although stagnation, transience, and renewal are inherently “natural,” they are hardly accepted on a metaphorical level. Economic growth or technical development, for example, never attain a point of maturity, encounter final limitations, or reach saturation. Regression is considered taboo.
The idea of growth has long been a theme in the field of cultural production as a central principle of social organization. Artists take the concept of growth and the associated belief in progress as a staring point for investigations and visualizations based on exemplary phenomena. The exhibition project offers a platform for this thematic interest. Bringing together various strands of artistic explorations of the phenomenon of growth, the exhibition project “On the Metaphor of Growth” creates a tension between the positive and negative connotations of growth processes and inspires fundamental reflections on the topic.
“On the Metaphor of Growth” is being realized as a cooperation between a triangle of institutions: The Kunstverein Hannover (April 16 – June 26), the Kunsthaus Baselland (May 21 – July 10), and the Frankfurter Kunstverein (May 27 – 31 July). Each exhibition will have its own emphasis and curatorial signature. A joint publication and respective event programs accompany the project.
Participating artists at the Frankfurter Kunstverein are: Marisa Argentato (IT) & Pasquale Pennacchio (IT), bankleer (Karin Kasböck (DE) & Christoph Leitner (DE)), Mark Boulos (US), Peter Buggenhout (BE), Sylvie Fleury (CH), Ulrich Gebert (DE), Tue Greenfort (DK), Mindpirates (DE), Dan Peterman (US), Thomas Rentmeister (DE), Robot (John Miller (US) & Takuji Kogo (JP) /Aura Rosenberg (US)), Mika Rottenberg (AR), Julika Rudelius (DE), Ene-Liis Semper (EE), Gerda Steiner (CH) & Jörg Lenzlinger (CH).
“Growth” generally has positive connotations and is seen as a desirable process: the growth of plants, children, capital assets, pensions, and the economy as a whole. As a concept initially associated with biology, it suggests something natural. In relation to society, a belief in growth and progress can determine the general direction of a society, for example, the development of the individual as passing through the phases of education, a professional career, and starting a family. Although stagnation, transience, and renewal are inherently “natural,” they are hardly accepted on a metaphorical level. Economic growth or technical development, for example, never attain a point of maturity, encounter final limitations, or reach saturation. Regression is considered taboo.
The idea of growth has long been a theme in the field of cultural production as a central principle of social organization. Artists take the concept of growth and the associated belief in progress as a staring point for investigations and visualizations based on exemplary phenomena. The exhibition project offers a platform for this thematic interest. Bringing together various strands of artistic explorations of the phenomenon of growth, the exhibition project “On the Metaphor of Growth” creates a tension between the positive and negative connotations of growth processes and inspires fundamental reflections on the topic.
“On the Metaphor of Growth” is being realized as a cooperation between a triangle of institutions: The Kunstverein Hannover (April 16 – June 26), the Kunsthaus Baselland (May 21 – July 10), and the Frankfurter Kunstverein (May 27 – 31 July). Each exhibition will have its own emphasis and curatorial signature. A joint publication and respective event programs accompany the project.
Participating artists at the Frankfurter Kunstverein are: Marisa Argentato (IT) & Pasquale Pennacchio (IT), bankleer (Karin Kasböck (DE) & Christoph Leitner (DE)), Mark Boulos (US), Peter Buggenhout (BE), Sylvie Fleury (CH), Ulrich Gebert (DE), Tue Greenfort (DK), Mindpirates (DE), Dan Peterman (US), Thomas Rentmeister (DE), Robot (John Miller (US) & Takuji Kogo (JP) /Aura Rosenberg (US)), Mika Rottenberg (AR), Julika Rudelius (DE), Ene-Liis Semper (EE), Gerda Steiner (CH) & Jörg Lenzlinger (CH).