TESTING (RE-)PRODUCTION
„Testing (Re-)Production“, Muzeum Sztuki, 11. – 12. Januar 2013
Kunsthaus Dresden in Kooperation mit Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz (PL)
With performances by Agata Bielska (PL), Yael Davids (IL), Discoteca Flaming Star (DE/ES), FORT, Wojciech Kosma (PL), Igor Krenz (PL), Pracownia Fizyczna (PL), Claudia Schötz and Hannes Broecker
With lectures by Kirsten Maar, Maaike Gouwenberg (NL)
With films by Absalon (IL), William Forsythe (US), Judith Hopf, Judith Hopf and Henrik Olesen (DE/DK), Alicja Karska and Aleksandra Went (PL), Ali Kazma (TR), Joachim Koester (DK), Igor Krenz (PL), Les gens d’Uterpan (FR), Dora Maurer (HU), Kelly Nipper (US), Bettina Nürnberg and Dirk Peuker, Erik van Lieshout (NL), Julika Rudelius, Tamas St. Auby (HU), Union Gaucha Productions (BR/AR), Monika Zawadski (PL), Katarina Zdeljar (XS)
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The title “Testing (Re-)Production” refers to the emergence of new aesthetic forms during the 20th century, described by Walter Benjamin in his essay on early film. Metaphorically speaking he states that certain situations and processes can be observed with a test under actual or simulated conditions.
The thematic focus of the festival is the museum Sztuki's own history. The building of ms2 situated is a former textile factory, belonging to one of the biggest architectural complexes in Lódz. In 2008 the building was changed into a museum. It is nowadays still a site for production with an emphasis on presentation, research, archive and communication.
“Testing (Re-)Production“ at Muzeum Sztuki evolved in reference to the museum’s history and architecture. In contrast to the Baroque building in Dresden, the building in Łodz will be understood under the paradigm of the museum as a room of production. A former factory, its architecture complies formally with the utopias of modernity and the fordism predominant in late capitalism: rationalism, functionalism, efficiency, sereality, automatism, and progressiveness.
Focusing on constructivist positions such as Katarzyna Kobros, the museum’s collection reflects this time. Her sculptures are based on rationalist, mathematically calculated structures, which implicate the movements of the viewer, whilst simultaneously moving him anew.
The artists invited to Łodz deal with the museum as place of production: Sequences, fabrications, procedures, and techniques play a role, which experience an examination through (re-)production. Utopian “settings” such as fordism, undergo forms of contemporary art’s criticism. The building is activated anew and the former factory’s functionalism forced open: A hybrid form of exhibition and festival will be installed on Muzeum Sztuki’s entire ground floor. Further more
it takes place in the current exhibition „Correspondences. Modern Art and Universalism”, and in the nearby Manufaktura mall.
This way, the festival also includes an exhibition that appears like a quote. Hereby contemporary modes of exhibiting are put to the test. They are dealt with under the terms of “situation”, “scenarios”, or “setting”, and extend the exhibiting of objects in favor of the staging of actions and simultaneous film screenings.
Some of the artists participating in the exhibition “Setting” at Kunsthaus Dresden are invited to Muzeum Sztuki in Łodz: Yael Davids, Discoteca Flaming Star, and FORT shall participate with performances. Formerly tested will hereby be questioned under new conditions.
“Testing (Re-)Production” is supported by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes, the mondriaan fonds, the ifa Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen and the Foundation for German-Polish-Cooperation.
Artistic director: Petra Reichensperger
Curators of ms2 | Muzeum Sztuki:
Aleksandra Jach, Katarzyna Sloboda, Magdalena Ziólkowska