Potential Worlds 2: Eco Fictions
24 Oct 2020 - 09 May 2021
Jimmie Durham, Alpine Substance on Wolfsburg Construction, 2007, Collection Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, photo: Lorenzo Pusterla
Zheng Bo, Pteridophilia 1, 2016, Videostill, Courtesy the artist and Edouard Malingue Gallery; Fern as Method, 2019, Courtesy the artist and Kyoto City University of Arts, Kyoto; Foto: Anaïs Stein
Zheng Bo, Pteridophilia 1, 2016, Videostill, Courtesy the artist and Edouard Malingue Gallery
Cao Fei, Rumba II: Nomad, 2015, Videostill, Courtesy the artist and Vitamin Creative Space
Mary Maggic. Plants of the Future, 2013/2020, Commissioned by Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst and YARAT Contemporary Art Space. Courtesy the artist, photo: Lorenzo Pusterla
Korakrit Arunanondchai, With history in a room filled with people with funny names 4, 2017, sculpture, Collection Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, photo: Lorenzo Pusterla
Peter Fend, RAPID Methane Gas Station, 2000, Collection Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, photo: Lorenzo Pusterla
Louis Henderson, All that is Solid, 2014, Videostill, Courtesy the artist
Korakrit Arunanondchai, Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán, Dora Budor, Burton Nitta (Michael Burton & Michiko Nitta), Cao Fei, Julian Charrière, Carl Cheng, Jimmie Durham, Peter Fend, Tue Greenfort, Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Helen Mayer and Newton Harrison, Louis Henderson, Mary Maggic, Mileece*, MOON Kyungwon & JEON Joonho, Adrián Villar Rojas, Pinar Yoldas, Bo Zheng
The group exhibition Potential Worlds 2: Eco-Fictions follows up on the questions raised by Potential Worlds 1: Planetary Memories by laying out speculative projections of the web of relationships between humans and nature in light of today’s ecological situation. The consequences of environmental devastation have made it plain that we need to understand humanity to be an integral part of rather than the center of the world. The first chapter of the exhibition series,Potential Worlds 1: Planetary Memories, turned the spotlight on the ways in which humans took possession of the natural world in pursuit of power and resources and the repercussions for nature as well as communities. Building on these insights, Potential Worlds 2: Eco-Fictions inquires into the potential worlds that might emerge from the ruins of humanity’s making: What can we do with the detritus of contemporary life and the traces of destruction? Given the precarious situation in which the world finds itself, how can we begin to look for new ways of life? Which role can art as a technological, scientific, and social experiment play in this quest? The artists in the exhibition sketch visions of potential worlds and underscore that we need to imagine possible futures in concrete terms for alternative modes of life to come into being. They reflect on how we treat nature and craft ideas for novel forms of life on earth. We’re sure you’ll be inspired!
In collaboration with YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku
The group exhibition Potential Worlds 2: Eco-Fictions follows up on the questions raised by Potential Worlds 1: Planetary Memories by laying out speculative projections of the web of relationships between humans and nature in light of today’s ecological situation. The consequences of environmental devastation have made it plain that we need to understand humanity to be an integral part of rather than the center of the world. The first chapter of the exhibition series,Potential Worlds 1: Planetary Memories, turned the spotlight on the ways in which humans took possession of the natural world in pursuit of power and resources and the repercussions for nature as well as communities. Building on these insights, Potential Worlds 2: Eco-Fictions inquires into the potential worlds that might emerge from the ruins of humanity’s making: What can we do with the detritus of contemporary life and the traces of destruction? Given the precarious situation in which the world finds itself, how can we begin to look for new ways of life? Which role can art as a technological, scientific, and social experiment play in this quest? The artists in the exhibition sketch visions of potential worlds and underscore that we need to imagine possible futures in concrete terms for alternative modes of life to come into being. They reflect on how we treat nature and craft ideas for novel forms of life on earth. We’re sure you’ll be inspired!
In collaboration with YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku