Miraculous signs of nature, terrifying celestial phenomena and jags of fire flying from the sky – early modern apocalyptic imaginings were still of a different shape than our dystopian visions of the future today.
Image above: Barnabás Sebessy
But what do contemporary projections of the future look like? Do we currently need dystopian images as a mirror of reality to denounce grievances, mobilise protest and initiate change?
Especially at a time when numerous and simultaneous crises dominate our world, questions and perspectives critical of the future are becoming increasingly urgent. Abandoned, urban and industrial spaces offer a surface for cultural and subcultural phenomena, activities and protest movements. The Kunstbrücke am Wildenbruch, itself one of these urban in-between places for a long time, is the starting point for various artworks interacting with the space.
In partly serious, partly poetic or caricaturistically humorous works, the artists in the exhibition deal with our reality and current dystopian visions of the future. But they also reflect on the possibilities of protest and escape from it. Hypothetical, absurd and pseudo-documentary scenarios provide insights into a possible reordering of our world. But these visions of the future are never unambiguous. In a constant oscillation between the apocalyptic and the utopian, they provide ambiguous images of desire and horror.
WHEN?
Vernissage: Friday, 29 July 2022, 6 p.m.
Exhibition dates: Saturday, 30 July – Sunday, 30 October.
WHERE?
Kunstbrücke am Wildenbruch
Weigandufer Ecke Wildenbruchbrücke,
neben der Anlegestelle
12045 Berlin