Thomas Feuerstein
dal 27/5/2015 al 29/8/2015
Segnalato da
27/5/2015
Thomas Feuerstein
Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt
Psychoprosa. For the exhibition the artist propose his installations and 'molecular sculptures' based on chemical and biological processes that stand as symbols of social and psychic states of consciousness.
The Frankfurter Kunstverein presents the first major institutional solo
exhibition in Germany of Austrian artist Thomas Feuerstein (*1968 in
Innsbruck, lives in Vienna). His installations and "molecular sculptures"
are based on chemical and biological processes that stand as symbols of
social and psychic states of consciousness. They refer to current social
and political issues such as the impact of biopolitics on the individual, the
solution to global food problems, and the elimination of social boundaries.
For the exhibition PSYCHOPROSA, the artist will develop an impressive
installation for the Frankfurter Kunstverein that will extend throughout
multiple rooms and floors.
The exhibition PSYCHOPROSA focuses on mucus as a biochemical substance
and sculptural material. The production of mucus takes place as a real process
within the exhibition spaces, transforming the Frankfurter Kunstverein into an
interconnecting ensemble of greenhouse, laboratory, walk-in refrigerator,
cinema, and factory. Through tubes connected to one another, equipment and
objects produce and transform their interior substances, refrigerators open and
close automatically and transparent threads of mucus drip from expansive glass
sculptures.
In close collaboration with biochemists, Thomas Feuerstein has developed the
synthetic molecule Psilamin, derived from algae and fungi. In its production,
large quantities of viscous biofilm are generated. If one were to take Psilamin,
one would begin to feel psychotropic effects. Perception would liquefy, and
objects in the room would appear soft and shapeless. Simultaneously, the
flowing nature of the sculptural matter, which escapes solid form, externalizes an
inner psychic process. At the end of the biochemical production process, which
visitors can track in the different exhibition spaces, there is the expansive
sculpture Accademia dei Secreti over whose glass containers vast amounts of
mucus pour.
Thomas Feuerstein views the exhibition as a narrative at the core of which lies a
literary form in the tradition of science fiction. It is accompanied by lithographs
and presented in the cinema room as a radio play together with the sculpture
Sternenrotz. Across a dark room, the viewer sees a glowing sculpture in which a
viscous, phosphorescent slime slowly drips like streaks and tears on a glass
slide. In a steady creation and disappearance of shapes, the specific properties
of the mucus as a moving sculptural material become clear. At the same time,
the text raises questions of form and anti-form. The listener follows a discussion
of researchers and bioactivists on the question of the evolutionary role of biofilm
in a hypothetical "Mucus Age" in human history. Thomas Feuerstein recounts
through his exhibition PSYCHOPROSA not only a story of matter as a living
process and bearer of specific properties, but also of the social role of science in
the modern age.
Through the exhibitionʼs title, PSYCHOPROSA, the artist further emphasizes the
notion of subjectivity in the experience and perception of the world. The
combination of the words "psycho" and "prose" refers to the narrative and
subjective elements within art. The narrative PSYCHOPROSA can be read as an
extension of western societyʼs Enlightenment and modernity based system of
rational thought. At the same time, it encourages reflection on the idea of
transgressing limits in terms of a possible counter-concept for the perception of
the world.
A catalogue accompanies the exhibition, with texts in German and English by
Beate Ermacora, Thomas Feuerstein, and Jürgen Tabor, as well as a
conversation between Graham Harman and Thomas Feuerstein; 240 pages,
with numerous colour illustrations; Snoeck Verlag, Cologne 2015.
The exhibition is a collaboration with the Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck, and
the Kunstverein Heilbronn, and was made possible through kind support from
Hessische Kulturstiftung, the Hessen State Ministry of Higher Education,
Research and the Arts, the Federal Chancellery of Austria in Vienna, the
Province of the Tyrol, the Austrian Cultural Forum in Berlin, Merck KGaA, ORF
Kunstradio, Rehau AG + Co and allbuyone GmbH.
Image: invitation
Press Contact:
Julia Wittwer (Head of PR), presse@fkv.de
Opening: May 28, 2015, 7 pm
Frankfurter Kunstverein
Markt 44
60311 Frankfurt
Germany
Hours: Tuesday–Friday 11am–7pm
Thursday 11am–9pm, Saturday–Sunday 10am–7pm