For Berlin Art Week, the non-profit organisation Flussbad Berlin will be presenting the exhibition and auction “50 Für Bad Berlin” in the Red Salon of the Bauakademie. Fluss Bad Berlin is a civil society initiative for urban development committed to making swimming possible in the Spree Canal and, in the long run, in other sections of the Berlin Spree.

“50 Für Bad Berlin” will present works by mostly Berlin-based artists and architects who show solidarity with the objectives of the Fluss Bad Berlin project and the team behind it. They advocate a sustainable development of Berlin for the common good. They oppose the tendency to restrict for ideological reasons the debate on the future of the city (centre) to the historicising reconstruction of the Berlin of the early 20th century and the attempt to appropriate “art and culture” for that purpose. They want to emphasise instead that art and culture are closely linked to development initiatives such as Fluss Bad Berlin, which promote a more social, ecological, sustainable, and futureproof urban development.

While the works on display cover a wide range of types and techniques, they all relate to themes the Fluss Bad project addresses: for instance, in their interpretation of the essential significance of water for our world and for life, and the diverse relationships between humans and the element. They analyse the sensory, political and technical significance of water as a cultural asset, and the meaning of a free and equal access to it. They remind us that the river belongs to the city, that everyday culture belongs to high culture, and that the city is shaped by social values, which –at the same time– it is capable to mediate.

All of the pieces shown at the “50 Für Bad Berlin” exhibition will be auctioned on September 12.

List of participating artists:
Rosa Barba, Barkow Leibinger, Aram Bartholl, John Bock, Stefanie Bürkle, Thomas Demand, Oswald Egger, Olafur Eliasson, Elmgreen & Dragset, Estudio Herreros, Nina Fischer & Maroan El Sani, Simon Fujiwara, Filomeno Fusco & Victor Kégli, Graft, Katharina Grosse, Esra Gülmen, Asmund Hansteen-Mikkelsen, Annette Hauschild, Heide von Beckerath Alberts, Robert Hermann, Katharina Hinsberg, Moon Hoon, Bjarke Ingels, Inges Idee, Christian Jankowski, Peter K. Koch, Annette Kisling, Mischa Kuball, Götz Lemberg, Susanne Lorenz, Regula Lüscher, Maciej Markowicz, Maix Mayer, Jürgen Mayer H, Bjørn Mehlhus, Fernando Menis, Christian Möller, Olaf Nicolai, Lewis Pugh, Raumlabor, realities:united, Anselm Reyle, Shirin Sabahi, Michael Sailstorfer, Karin Sander, Tomás Saraceno, Sauerbruch Hutton, Erik Schmidt, Something Fantastic, Carlo Stanga, Wolfgang Tillmans, Clement Valla x Certain Measures, Michael Wesely, Haegue Yang, Tobias Zielony

The World in My Hand explores the smartphone as both object and aesthetic inspiration for artistic creation. It comments on public debates surrounding the many uses of smartphones: from always-on media consumption to digital detox, from swiping and matching to ghosting and blocking, from language atrophy to information overload, from resource depletion to status symbol.

The curators, Dr Jörg Garbrecht and Katharina Wenkler, have chosen a narrative approach to the exhibition. In eight chapters, they summarize various aspects and debates surrounding the smartphone, ranging from the launch date of our daily digital companion to its characteristic touchscreen and the contractions of time and space it enables. Deeply personal moments – such as Ai Weiwei’s selfie at the moment of his arrest or Sergey Melnitchenko’s photograph of his son during a blackout in Kyiv – appear alongside themes of perception and presentation of the self, as realized in the glass sculpture Stability by Julija Pociūtė. Other subjects include: looking for love online, as in Ariane Forkel’s Casanova’s Kabinett or John Yuyi’s Tinder Match; the complexities and pitfalls of digital communication, for example in the works of James Akers or Alejandra Seeber; and the smartphone as a means of staying in touch during pandemic lockdown isolation, for instance in the work of George McLeod. Edward Burtynsky’s photograph of lithium mines in the Atacama Desert calls attention to the topic of raw materials for electronic devices.

With works by:
Tornike Abuladze, James Akers, Ai Weiwei, Kate Baker, Aram Bartholl, Tillie Burden, Edward Burtynsky, Yvon Chabrowski, Julia Chamberlain, Rachel Daeng Ngalle, Erwin Eisch, Ariane Forkel, Shige Fujishiro, Valentin Goppel, David Horvitz, Artem Humilevskyi, Gudrun Kemsa, Zsuzsanna Kóródi, Brigitte Kowanz, George McLeod, Sergey Melnitchenko, Jonas Noël Niedermann, Julian Opie, Cornelia Parker, Katie Paterson mit Zeller & Moye, Julija Pociūtė, Rebecca Ruchti, Karin Sander, Jeffrey Sarmiento, Alejandra Seeber, JanHein van Stiphout, Jolita Vaitkute, Sascha Weidner, John Yuyi, Jeff Zimmer

For the exhibition “Home Smart Home,” Aram Bartholl equips the tower of the Kunstverein Rotenburg with a variety of home surveillance cameras. In addition to hidden cameras, known as “Nanny Cams,” Bartholl also experiments with 360° “Lightbulb” cameras equipped with lights and speakers. The market for surveillance cameras in the private sphere has grown tremendously in recent years. The desire for control over one’s own private space is reflected in this development and is part of the digitally driven society marked by a loss of trust.

The Art Tower, 4 Floors – 122 Steps – 24 m.
Originally slated for demolition in the mid-90s to make way for parking space for the “Ronolulu” leisure pool, the disused fire brigade water tower was on the chopping block. However, Peter Möhl, the former managing director of the municipal utilities and thus the owner of the tower, envisioned a meaningful repurposing. Together with the vice chairman of the Art Association, architect Jürgen Lohmann, the idea was born to convert the tower into a gallery.

Die Ausstellung Decoding the Black Box bringt Künstlerinnen und Künstler zusammen, die Licht in diesen dunklen Raum und die Prozesse werfen, die sich in ihm ereignen. Sie legen dabei nicht nur die Funktionsweisen digitaler Technologien wie beispielsweise von künstlicher Intelligenz offen, sondern visualisieren zugleich die Auswirkungen, die sie auf unsere Wahrnehmung von Realität und unser In-der-Welt-Sein haben. Während sie die ökonomischen und machtpolitischen Strukturen der digitalen Technologien und insbesondere des Internets transparent machen, zeigen sie Gegenentwürfe für eine dezentralisierte, humanere und demokratischere Nutzung ebendieser auf.

Osaka Kansai International Art Festival Vol.3

Ai Hasegawa / AQV-EIKKKMA / Algorythmic Perfumery / Aram Bartholl / BYNAM / ETAT LIBRE D’ORANGE /FISHKOM / Goo Nakayama / Hisashi Yamamoto / Kimihiko Hino /Makoto Aida / MOCAF / NEANDERTAL / II / Rintaro Hashiguchi / @shashinn / STORA SKUGGAN / Takehiro Ishitani + Chim Pom from Smappa!Group / Thomas Vautier / Tomotosi / VERYONE / Simon Weckert / Yuichi Inoue / YAP / ZOOLOGIST

The twelfth edition in 2023-2024 revolves around AI and technology. What is the impact on the human condition? The different perspectives will be highlighted with the theme ‘LOADING… Revealing Art, AI and Tech’.

ARAM BARTHOLL, ARNAUD LAFFOND, ATELIER HAUTE CUISINE, ENESS, FLORIAN & MICHAEL QUISTREBERT, FRANK FOOLE, GALI MAY LUCAS, GÁSPÁR BATTHA MET ANDRÁS NAGY, HERMAN KUIJER, JACQUELINE HEN, JOAN GINER, JON VOSS, JORIS STRIJBOS, LIAM CAMPBELL, MACULAR: DAAN JOHAN & JORIS STRIJBOS, MARLEEN SLEEUWITS, MISCHA KUBALL, PETER VINK, STUDIO MAST, UNIVERSAL EVERYTHING, VOUW, VENDEL & DE WOLF, VIBHOR SOGANI, YASSER BALLEMANS