Episode 05—energy rising
September 29–November 2, 2023
Artists: Stefan Alber, Rachel Elizabeth Ashton, Cecilia Bengolea, Immanuel Birkert, Lars Blum / Marlene Ruther, Lilly Braatz, Raphael Haider, Judith Hopf, Christin Kaiser, Robert Keil, Gašper Kunšič, Thuy-Tien Nguyen, Lucila Pacheco Dehne, Eduardo José Rubio Parra, Leon Purtscher, Shirin Sabahi, Wolfgang Tillmans, Charlotte Walter, 360° Bildung
Based on the overarching title POWER HOUSE, nova space, the university gallery of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, presented four exhibitions since April 2023 that circled around aspects of living in line with the annual theme of Klassik Stiftung Weimar. Episodes one to four dealt with the question of how we want to live, grow, and develop (where do we grow from here), with experiences of belonging and identity (no one belongs here more than you), with life in transit and constant change (can’t stop, won’t stop), and with a hopeful view of the future (reframing the future). The last, fifth episode, titled energy rising, now takes up the initial concept of the POWER HOUSE formulated at the beginning of the year as a power station and generator of creative energies, ideas and processes.
Episode 05—energy rising explores different contexts of energetic circles that permanently surround us. They can be experienced physically or mentally in visible or imagined flows: Weather events, for instance, are part of our everyday culture, but in extreme cases they also create fear. Lightning and thunder discharge electrical voltage. Because of their sheer strength and immediate visualization of energy, they are sometimes considered mystical, paranormal force, the wrath and magic of evil powers. “In thunder, lightning, or in rain?” it says in Shakespeare’s work Macbeth, in which the three witches arrange their conspiratorial intentions in harmony with the weather. Energy is a catalyst of spiritual thought processes and in many ways a necessary aid or remedy.
The consumption of physical energy is an ongoing as well as ubiquitous phenomenon. Sunlight, wind, water, biomass, and geothermal energy are elementary energy sources of our supply systems. Energy is extracted from these natural resources, converted, and ultimately consumed in manifold technical and biological networks to keep human and non-human life in motion. Energy resources are not only objects of speculation; their endurance is omnipresent and highly emotionally debated, as they create increasing geopolitical and socioeconomic dependencies.
Furthermore, climatic changes entail threatening effects on environments. How do energies of nature and unforeseen fluctuations affect the physical and mental state? The term solastalgia [built of solace, desolation, and algia (lat.) = pain], coined by the environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht, describes a melancholic state, a kind of nostalgic sense of loss over the transformation and destruction of familiar places, such as home or nature, and the resulting mental maladies. Using his socio-ecological approach, Albrecht argues a correlation between the health of the ecosystem and that of humans, which has increasingly fallen into imbalance. So how can a healthy harmony be (re)established in the face of the current dystopian polycrises, or is it rather in need of a charged outbreak?
The exhibition energy rising focuses on artworks of manifold mediums that explicitly deal with physical and imagined energy flows and streams, explosive or implosive states, and the effects on the psychological as well as physical condition. It places the POWER of the POWER HOUSE at the center of action and is dedicated to the dichotomous/dualistic relationship of energy as a concept that oscillates between destructive and creative, transformative and conserving. It juxtaposes works by 19 artists who visualize, embody, or materialize energy in all its facets, revealing its poetic as well as critical potential. The exhibition poses the questions: How can extracted energies be preserved and used? From what do we draw (everyday) vigor? How can we physically and mentally empower ourselves, interconnect, discharge, or encapsulate to maintain a sustainable state?
In the 100th anniversary year of the first-ever Bauhaus exhibition, nova space—the university gallery of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar—will inhabit the exhibition space of the Schiller-Museum in Weimar until the end of 2023. The Klassik Stiftung Weimar is dedicating its 2023 annual programme to the theme of living, focusing centrally on the Weimar State Bauhaus. The Stiftung casts its gaze towards the future of housing and coexistence, invites visitors to engage with sustainable building, discusses topics such as displacement and gentrification and relates these to historical forms of housing.
The exhibition will be accompanied by an extensive program of performances and workshops. All events are free of charge and open to the public. For more information on upcoming events, see here.
Curated by: Sophia Scherer & Katharina Wendler. A collaborative project between Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, nova space university gallery and Klassik Stiftung Weimar.
