Metabolic Museum–University

the tongue for exchange and dialogue, the eye for visual thinking, the ear for sound and silence, the skin for feelings and temperature, the nose for scent and taste (or its absence), the lungs and diaphragm for deceleration and rhythm, the skeleton and muscles for support and traction, the stomach, intestines, liver, kidneys and spleen for reflexive synthesis, the thyroid gland, gall bladder and pancreas for converting and secreting, the genitals for friction, stimulation, and reproduction, blood, veins and arteries for non-verbal transmission, the nervous system for ergonomic reflex, the brain for relearning and inquiry, and the heart as the complex common ground created by artworks.
 

Based on a concept devised by Clémentine Deliss and developed with students from Karlsruhe University of the Arts and Design, the Metabolic Museum-University (MM–U) engineers a temporary and experimental infrastructure that squats the exhibition spaces of the 33rd Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts, Crack Up – Crack Down. Like a benign tumor, it fosters conversations between artworks by altering the ergonomic framework encountered by the public and dislodging expectations through simple gestures that encourage repose and reflection. Flexible furniture, designed by the MM–U team based on a home camping aesthetic, offers visitors of the Biennial the possibility to sit down, read, listen to lectures, and engage in informal conversations and rehearsals. Folding chairs have their own tongue-table, retina-light, and mini-beamer enabling participants to project images and information into the void space between exhibits, effectively spamming the installation and developing their own personalized image-atlas. 

Each day, the Metabolic Museum-University is based at another venue of the Biennial. Instead of the departments of a university, there are organs; instead of an event program, members of the guest faculty propose a series of stimuli that respond to, and playfully elaborate upon, the existing exhibitions curated by Slavs and Tatars. Each day reflects an alternative “Organ of the Week.” These include Lungday (performance), Tongueday (speech and translation), Eyeday (visual thinking), Brainday (humour and satire), Skinday (emotions), Liverday (detox) and Heartday (trust and alliances). With the participation of local and international artists, scientists, historians, independent thinkers and students from different disciplines and backgrounds, the MM-U aims to nurture the democratic intellect, providing the oxygen necessary for an emancipatory process to take place within the museum, transforming it from a site of controlled consumption into a co-working space of inquiry.

The MM-U is open to all and every visitor is a potential student. Exercises in visual adjacency initiated through the free-style educational infrastructure of the MM–U seek to identify new metaphors, environments and images that give greater visibility to urgent questions affecting our common lives. 

The Metabolic Museum-University is a production of the Department of Exhibition Design and Scenography at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design in collaboration with the 33rd Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts, Crack Up – Crack Down and the MGLC - International Centre of Graphic Arts. It represents the collective endeavor of Francesca Romana Audretsch, Janina Capelle, Lizzy Ellbrück, Teresa Häußler, Diane Hillebrand, Cécile Kobel, Mathias Lempart, and Christina Scheib under the direction of Prof. Dr. Clémentine Deliss and with the supervision of Prof. Andreas Müller and Prof. Dr. Matthias Bruhn. For further information please write to mm-u [​at​] hfg-karlsruhe.de