ÜBER TAGE_09 art projects for the Lusatian Lake District
with artistic contributions by
Roland Fuhrmann (Berlin), Kateřina Šedá (Prague), Antje Schiffers & Thomas Sprenger (Berlin)
ÜBER TAGE made its debut in 2007 and continues in 2009. Our aim is the careful integration of contemporary art into the Lusatian Lake District. Landscape is understood here as resulting from an interplay of the natural, cultural and social spheres. In 2008, an event excursion by Leipzig "flaneurologist" (or "stroll researcher") Bertram Weisshaar caused a furor and elicited lively participation. Rupprecht Matthies' "EX SORABIA", a walk-in dictionary in the Upper Sorbian language set along the Boxberg bicycle path, enjoyed increased popularity. Yet another reason for an emphasis on art on this lake in 2009 is well.
The projects featured by ÜBER TAGE are less autonomous artistic statements in the sense of classic Land Art (which may however be a source of inspiration), and more a mix of temporary and long-term commentaries on a setting that is subject to processes of constant change. Tourist aspects and the network of cycling paths are integrated creatively into the planning process.
In the long-term, the objective is to achieve local acceptance of the planned art projects and identification with them, sensitizing residents to the potential of contemporary art and the permanent development of art spaces. These factors have played a decisive role in the choice of artists to date, whose site-specific approaches have ensured the active involvement of the visible and invisible transformations currently taking place in the region, and of local groups and initiatives. Viewers become co-creative users.
The topography of the planned landscape park is dominated by Bärwalder See. On the bed of this lake lie villages evacuated to make way for opencast lignite mining. At the same time, Uhyst and Boxberg are becoming "harbor towns". Traumatization coexists with revitalization, the burdens of the past with opportunities for the future. Emerging where such symptoms intersect are intriguing possibilities for artists to realize work that contributes to regional integration while operating on the level of international contemporary art. A significant role is played by the involvement of artists from the two neighboring EU countries, Poland and the Czech Republic, a regional strength that is taken into account when planning ÜBER TAGE.
This year, Czech artist Kateřina Šedá - well-known for her contribution to the 5th Berlin Biennale - is at work on a spectacular action, one that incorporates all available residents of the 800-strong community of Uhyst. In a drawing and poster action, they join forces to conjure the "Ghost of Uhyst". Developed by means of this communicative process, one extending over a weeklong period, is a portrait of this village, one appropriated by the community in a concluding mass signature action to take place on the village square.
Erected this year by Berlin artist Roland Fuhrmann directly on the banks of the imposing Bärwalder See, and extending the axis leading toward the stately Baroque palace building, are two functional sculptures, their viewing tubes oriented precisely toward the polestar. This heavenly body, referred to as Polaris, or in scientific terminology as "α UMi", constitutes a seemingly unalterable extension of the Earth's axis, its extraordinary luminosity making it a symbol of cosmic orientation.
Antje Schiffers & Thomas Sprenger of Berlin have worked together for many years in rural regions throughout Europe. For ÜBER TAGE, they join forces with local residents of the lakeside communities in order to develop a product that is wholly typical of the region, and one manufactured currently in local handicraft enterprises according to designs by the artists and their collaborators. On August 15th, the product will be launched publicly in a promotional film which reveals the story of its genesis. Finally, the product will be available for purchase at an "International Village Shoppe", a permanent sales stand located in Findlingspark Nochten - together with other amusing and useful "village products" manufactured throughout Europe. But what exactly is the Boxberg Product? All will be revealed on August 15.
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Radiobeitrag vom 17.08.09 auf MDR Figaro
-> zum Pressespiegel
Pictures of the opening 2009:
Zeitraum:
ab 15. August 2009
Auch die Projekte von Rupprecht Matthies "EX SORABIA", Joanna Rajkowska "The Uhyst Refugee Asylum", Juliane Köhler "Epiphyten/ Aufsitzer" und Stefan Schröder "Handlungsspielraum" sind noch zu besichtigen.
Curator:
Susanne Altmann
Production:
Reinhardt v. Bergen-Wedemeyer
Organizing body:
Gemeinde Boxberg
Commissioned by:
Gemeinde Boxberg and
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