ARCHIVE EVENT 17.
21.04.2023
LOCATION: MOLT, Tempelhofer Ufer 1A, BERLIN
FORMAT: Exhibition
CURATOR: MOLT TEAM
ARTISTS:
Camille Belmin
Ramona Gomez
AVeryLongday
CAN TRASH WITHIN OUR URBAN ENVIRONMENT REACQUAINT US WITH NATURE, BRING US CLOSER TO CYCLES OF LIFE AND DEATH AND TO A CERTAIN KIND OF TRANSCENDENCE?
WHILE CAPITALISM ENCOURAGES US TO LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEW, THE TRAILS OF WASTE AND DESTRUCTION WE LEAVE BEHIND ARE INEVITABLY CATCHING UP TO US. IN THIS EXHIBITION, RATHER THAN DISMISSING OUR TRASH, WE GIVE IT SPACE AND EXPOSE IT.
PLASTIC AND TOXIC WASTE, THEY REFUSE THE NATURAL CYCLES OF DEGRADATION AND REVIVAL THAT WE, AS A SPECIES, RELY UPON FOR OUR SURVIVAL. THIS EVENTUALLY SERVES AS A REMINDER THAT OUR EXISTENCE LIES WITHIN A WEB OF CONNECTION AND INTERDEPENDENCE TO NON-HUMANS.
INSPIRED BY URBAN ENVIRONMENTS THAT CONSTANTLY STAGE INTIMATE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN HUMAN-MADE ARTIFACTS — ABANDONED CHAIRS OR SHATTERED MIRRORS — AND REMAINS OF THE NATURAL WORLD — RATS, WEEDS, PIGEON WINGS — WE LOOK FOR SIGNS OF LIFE IN DEATH, OF POETRY IN THE DISCARDED AND THE WORTHLESS, ALWAYS BEARING IN MIND THAT TIME AND MATTER IS CYCLICAL. EXISTING AT A MOMENT WHERE WE ARE UNSURE WHAT WILL COME FIRST, THE DEATH OF CAPITALISM OR THE DEATH OF OUR SPECIES, OR PERHAPS BOTH AT ONCE, WE EQUIP OURSELVES WITH TOOLS OF REVIVAL, WEARING OUR TENDERNESS LIKE AN ARMOR. RATHER THAN AN ODE TO THE DESTRUCTION OF NATURE BY OUR DISPOSABLE SOCIETY, THE EXHIBITION IS AN INVITATION TO CELEBRATE AND RE-BOUND TO THE EARTHLY FORCES OF DECOMPOSITION, SYNTHESIS AND REBIRTH THAT KEEP US ALIVE. THROUGH THIS WE CAN FIND COURAGE AND JOY TO GROW AN ECOLOGICALLY-AWARE SOCIETY FROM THE DEBRIS OF LATE-CAPITALISM.