MASCHINENHAUS M1 and M2

Contemporary Ruins
Dorothee Albrecht, Morehshin Allahyari, Francis Alÿs, Katya Gardea Browne, Clemens Botho Goldbach, Arata Isozaki, Gordon Matta-Clark,
Ryuji Miyamoto, Marike Schuurman, Manit Sriwanichpoom
22 October 2017 -– 11 February 2018

 

After the destruction of both world wars in the 20th century, ruins have a permanent place in the collective memory. Caused by the decline of heavy industries once flourishing areas have transformed into abandoned deserts of rubble with empty, damaged buildings. Worldwide political instability and omnipresent media images of destruction practically deliver ruins right to our door. In contrast to the traditional view of ruins, a lyrical contemplation about a distant past, today the focus is on their concrete causes. The artists in the exhibition Contemporary Ruins address ruins as indicators of political, economic, or ecological processes and challenge how they stimulate aesthetic speculations about the future.

A cooperation of KAI 10 | Arthena Foundation, Düsseldorf and KINDL - Centre for Contemporary Art.
Curated by Julia Höner and Ludwig Seyfarth (Guest curators)
A catalogue has been published by Kerber Verlag.
The exhibition at the KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art was kindly supported by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.