Exhibition

September 20-22, 2024

In times of crisis, the ability to navigate around current obstacles and point the compass towards the future proves its importance. The persistent and complex challenges of our time demand both: that we remain both vigilant and restless. There is a certain power in restlessness—a power that embraces momentum and anticipates the vibrations of what is yet to come.

This implies being truly present: in an interweaving of myriad unfinished configurations of places, times, matters, and meanings, as described by American theorist Donna Haraway.

But how does one navigate our times when all parameters are constantly changing, when all elements are in a state of turbulence and our own location is sometimes unknown?

The exhibition “Above the Sea of Air” seeks answers to these questions. It sets the scene for the HOLITOPIA Festival for Arts & Futures, reflecting what is explored in the conference on a scientific level through art, architecture, and design. It is not merely an add-on but offers an multi sensual way of addressing crises and social challenges—one that is often overlooked or not equally integrated into current debates.

“Above the Sea of Air” explores themes and motifs, speculates, possibly contradicts, and poetically provides an alternative perspective to the theoretical discourses of the conference.

The exhibition presents 10 international contemporary art positions together with four projects from the fields of design research and architecture both indoors and outdoors on the HTW Campus Wilhelminenhof.

From the expansive modular installation BYCATCH by Abie Franklin and Daniel Hölzl, which connects the Spree and the riverside zone, to the performative-situational soundscapes by French sound artist Aude Langlois, and the video works by Philipp Modersohn, kennedy + swan collective, and Ulrike Mohr—all of which explore the relationship between matter, life, and temporality. The exhibition also addresses practices and systematics of knowledge production and the various roles AI now plays in shaping our lives.

This collective presentation maps a landscape of idea production that celebrates the fragmentary, the provisional, the accidental, and the discarded, bringing these elements into play in addressing current crises. It views the process of creation as a territory to be charted—material for navigation.

Artists

Marlene Bart, Konstantin Bayer, Abie Franklin/ Daniel Hölzl, Andreas Greiner, kennedy+swann, Aude Langlois, Philipp Modersohn, Ulrike Mohr, Charlie Stein

Designers and Architects

Dimitra Almpani-Lekka, Natalija Miodragović, Christian Stein, Rasa Weber

Curators

Madeleine Schwinge and Jan-Philipp Frühsorge