Magic and Power
27 Feb - 05 Jun 2016
MAGIC AND POWER
From magic carpets to drones
27 February – 5 June 2016
The exhibition examines this parallelity of magic carpet and unmanned air vehicle using contemporary artistic means: objects, drawings, photographs, videos and installations circle between fascination and horror around a historical issue of great topicality.
The magic carpet is a legendary carpet that can be used to transport humans instantaneously or quickly to any destination. In Persian mythology King Salomon had just such a magic craft. It became world famous through the stories from “One Thousand and One Nights” and still features not only in fairy tales but also in many fantasy books and films. It combines the primeval human dream of flying with the almighty view from above and the silent agility of the spy.
In a strange way, our modern-day drones continue to weave this spell. As remote-controlled flight robots they open up almost unlimited possibilities – for goods transport and the observation of hostile terrain, for new camera flights at dizzying heights or for unmanned military attacks. There is a clash here not only of picture worlds from East and West, but also of the magic of the fairy tales with the cynicism of an enlightened present, of fanciful dreams of conquering the heavens with crystal-clear photographs of the most hidden corners of the planet.
The show is a highly extended version of the presentation “Heaven and Hell” conceived last year by Diane Hennebert and Christophe Dosogne for the Boghossian Foundation – Villa Empain in Brussels.
Logo Boghossian Foundation
Artists
Adel Abdessemed, Jananne Al-Ani, Nevin Aladağ, Bilal Bahir, Axel Brechensbauer, Cai Guo-Qiang, Solano Cardenas, Tim Cierpiszewski, Eleven Play, Parastou Forouhar, Alicia Framis, Gregoire Gicquel, Oliver Grajewski, Laurent Grasso, Adam Harvey, IOCOSE, Pravdoliub Ivanov, Alain Josseau, Nadia Kaabi-Linke, Babak Kazemi, Krištof Kintera, Julien Leresteux, Li Wei, Urs Lüthi, Pierre Malpettes, Abu Bakarr Mansary, Farhad Moshiri, Nik Nowak, Panamarenko, Ruben Pater, Sebastian Reuzé, Patrick Rieve, Samuel Rousseau, Moussa Sarr, Björn Schülke, Jalal Sepehr, Roman Signer, Slavs and Tatars, Andreas Slominski, Rikrit Tiravanija, Addie Wagenknecht
From magic carpets to drones
27 February – 5 June 2016
The exhibition examines this parallelity of magic carpet and unmanned air vehicle using contemporary artistic means: objects, drawings, photographs, videos and installations circle between fascination and horror around a historical issue of great topicality.
The magic carpet is a legendary carpet that can be used to transport humans instantaneously or quickly to any destination. In Persian mythology King Salomon had just such a magic craft. It became world famous through the stories from “One Thousand and One Nights” and still features not only in fairy tales but also in many fantasy books and films. It combines the primeval human dream of flying with the almighty view from above and the silent agility of the spy.
In a strange way, our modern-day drones continue to weave this spell. As remote-controlled flight robots they open up almost unlimited possibilities – for goods transport and the observation of hostile terrain, for new camera flights at dizzying heights or for unmanned military attacks. There is a clash here not only of picture worlds from East and West, but also of the magic of the fairy tales with the cynicism of an enlightened present, of fanciful dreams of conquering the heavens with crystal-clear photographs of the most hidden corners of the planet.
The show is a highly extended version of the presentation “Heaven and Hell” conceived last year by Diane Hennebert and Christophe Dosogne for the Boghossian Foundation – Villa Empain in Brussels.
Logo Boghossian Foundation
Artists
Adel Abdessemed, Jananne Al-Ani, Nevin Aladağ, Bilal Bahir, Axel Brechensbauer, Cai Guo-Qiang, Solano Cardenas, Tim Cierpiszewski, Eleven Play, Parastou Forouhar, Alicia Framis, Gregoire Gicquel, Oliver Grajewski, Laurent Grasso, Adam Harvey, IOCOSE, Pravdoliub Ivanov, Alain Josseau, Nadia Kaabi-Linke, Babak Kazemi, Krištof Kintera, Julien Leresteux, Li Wei, Urs Lüthi, Pierre Malpettes, Abu Bakarr Mansary, Farhad Moshiri, Nik Nowak, Panamarenko, Ruben Pater, Sebastian Reuzé, Patrick Rieve, Samuel Rousseau, Moussa Sarr, Björn Schülke, Jalal Sepehr, Roman Signer, Slavs and Tatars, Andreas Slominski, Rikrit Tiravanija, Addie Wagenknecht