Revital Cohen & Tuur Van Balen
assemble | standard | minimal
January 23–May 3, 2015
Ernst Schering Foundation
Unter den Linden 32–34
10117 Berlin
Hours: Monday, Wednesday–Saturday noon–7pm
Open on Sunday, May 3, noon–7pm
info [at] scheringstiftung.de
www.scheringstiftung.de
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assemble | standard | minimal is the first solo show of the London-based artists Revital Cohen & Tuur Van Balen in Germany, presented by Ernst Schering Foundation and The Arts Catalyst, and curated by Jens Hauser. The exhibition shows five main works by the artists including two new commissions. For Sterile, albino goldfish are engineered to hatch without reproductive organs, they are not conceived as animals but made as objects. An edition of 45 goldfish was produced for the artists by Professor Etsuro Yamaha in his laboratory in Hokkaido, Japan. Sensei Ichi-gō is a machine capable of producing sterile goldfish in an automated reenactment of Yamaha’s movements and actions.
The exhibition reflects on our times of industrial processes and highly standardized technologies. Revital Cohen and Tuur Van Balen translate the automated production and trade—of living beings as well as of commercial products—into performative installations, provocative objects, and subtly aestheticized documentary films.
Related events:
Symposium: “Evolution Made by Man? Synthetic Biology in the Lab and the Studio,” in German
March 13, 10:30am–7:30pm
Leibniz Hall, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
On the occasion of the exhibition, the Ernst Schering Foundation, in cooperation with the Leopoldina – German National Academy of Sciences and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW), organizes the symposium “Evolution Made by Man? Synthetic Biology in the Lab and the Studio,” to discuss current developments in synthetic biology from a variety of perspectives.
Since antiquity, human beings have dreamed of creating life artificially. The enormous progress in DNA sequencing and genetic synthesis has stimulated the emergence of synthetic biology, a discipline that makes it possible to reprogram the genetic code of organisms and create living systems whose combination of traits had previously not existed in nature. This holds the promise of finding future solutions to pressing problems in fields such as health, environment and energy. At the same time, synthetic biology brings with it not only scientific, but also political, legal and ethical challenges. The symposium is aimed at both an expert audience and an interested public. It seeks to intensify the dialogue between science and the public and to strengthen mutual understanding.
With: Tobias J. Erb, Jörg Hacker, Jens Hauser, Hans-Christian von Herrmann, Charlotte Klonk, Bernd Müller-Röber, Ingeborg Reichle, Hans-Jörg Rheinberger, Petra Schwille, Tade M. Spranger, Rüdiger Trojok, Marcel Weber, et al.
Exhibition: Time & Motion: Redefining Working Life
January 28–April 6, 2015
Haus der Kulturen der Welt
transmediale, festival for art and digital culture, Berlin
With: Revital Cohen & Tuur Van Balen, Sam Meech, Oliver Walker, Ellie Harrison, Tehching Hsieh
For more information please contact Andrea Bölling, Public Relations, Ernst Schering Foundation:
T +49 30 20 62 29 60 / boelling [at] scheringstiftung.de.
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Sterile and Sensei Ichi-gō are commissioned by The Arts Catalyst and Schering Stiftung.
A project in cooperation with The Arts Catalyst and transmediale 2015 CAPTURE ALL, supported by the Daiwa Foundation and part of the European Commission FP7 funded project KiiCS.