The Verein zur Förderung von Kunst und Kultur am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Association for the Promotion of Art and Culture at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz) (L40) will open an installation in the public space, Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße 27 + 28 in Berlin Mitte on 17 September 2022. Until 10 November 2022, the installation (grow flowers!) will also be shown in the foyer of the L40.
Image above: Courtesy L40
With the two letterings (sunclipse!) and (sunsight!), the Portuguese artist Carlos Noronha Feio alludes to the architect and systems theorist Buckminster Fuller and his conviction that the wrong use of language perpetuates outdated realities. The latter was convinced that we will never be able to rid ourselves of the mistaken belief that we are the centre of the universe as long as we use scientifically outdated words such as sunset and sunrise, for example. Buckminster therefore proposed new terms for sunrise and sunset, namely eclipse and sunsight. These neologisms point beyond the lingering geocentric bias of pre-Copernican celestial mechanics and specifically describe how we see – or don’t see – the sun depending on the constellation of earth’s movement and our individual geographical position. A simple change of language can therefore change attitudes
Perhaps that is why the two opposite terms fit perfectly into the urban planning conditions on site. The north-south orientation of Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. means that the west side only gets sun in the morning and the east side only in the evening. (sunclipse!) and (sunsight!) thus describe concrete phenomena, as suggested by Buckminster.
The artist’s second installation (grow flowers!) in the foyer of the Kunstverein directs our gaze from the sky to the earth by asking us to plant flowers. This is never a bad idea in itself and is currently so popular that community gardens are springing up all over city centres. So-called guerrilla gardening is not least a reaction to ever less green in the city, architectural drabness, rising air pollution and the need to experience the city as a social community again.
The work (grow flowers!) was one of the first works the artist produced as part of the text series. It exists in several language variants, which the artist sees as an integral part of the work. The short quote – originally in Russian – comes from the “Poem on Flowers” by the non-conformist Soviet poet Genrikh Sapgir (Heinrich Sapgir). In this poem, Sapgir addresses various professional groups from different walks of life and speaks directly to them; ultimately to question their work and ask them to grow flowers instead. “Grow flowers, grow ideas, grow the seedlings of your own creation and cultivate yourself and others”.
In spring 2023, a German version will replace the English one.
WHEN?
Inauguration: Saturday 17 September 2022, 13-18h (@L40)
Exhibition: until Thursday, 10 November 2022
WHERE?
An installation in public space, Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße 27 + 28, 10117 Berlin-Mitte
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