30 Jun 2015

Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart: Utopian Pulse – Flares in the Darkroom

From June 20 to August 16, 2015, the Württembergischer Kunstverein in Stuttgart will be presenting the exhibition and program 'Utopian Pulse – Flares in the Darkroom'.

This project initiated by the Austrian artists Oliver Ressler and Ines Doujak took place last year at the Secession in Vienna. Focusing concrete sociopolitical situations, it follows utopian projections that serve the purposes of secession from and resistance to our particular present. Utopia here is understood as an always incomplete alternative, the invocation within the given world of something incompatible with, and hostile to, given conditions. It is a recognition of 'something missing,' but also a necessarily imperfect assertion of that which is not extant—yet: utopia as the assertion of the unrealized in and against the real.

In Vienna, 'Utopian Pulse – Flares in the Darkroom' was shown in the form of eight salons, taking place one after the other, each for one week. Four of these salons will be presented in Stuttgart in a different form and transformed to accommodate the format of an exhibition: the 'Salon Klimbim' (Fahim Amir and Ines Doujak), the 'Salon Public Happiness' (Christoph Schäfer), the 'Salon Fluchthilfe' (Escape Aid; Zanny Begg), and 'Cuartos de Utopía' (Spaces of Utopia; Pedro G. Romero / Máquina P.H.).

Situated at the heart of the exhibition is a large tent made of colorful strips of fabric, forming the Salon Klimbim display together with a disco ball and a series of platforms. In Vienna, it served as a framework for the Utopian Pulse opening event—a roaring celebration and political manifesto in equal measure, which in Stuttgart will attain presence in the form of a film. In Stuttgart, the tent provides the space and frame for a series of lectures, workshops, and performances revolving around artistic and activistic designs, projections, and projects related to the theme of utopia.

A special contribution to the performative aspect of the project is the daily reading of a utopian manifesto by the members of the Stuttgart civic choir.

The three other Salons fathom the limits and potentialities of utopian ideas in the context of contested urban space—specifically, in Hamburg and Istanbul (Salon Public Happiness)—as well as escape with related approaches fostering openness towards the other (Salon Fluchthilfe) and flamenco cultures (Cuartos de Utopía).

Another facet of the exhibition involves sixteen artistically designed banners created for the exhibition in Vienna and adapted for the Stuttgart venue.

Artists:
4taxis, Halil Altindere, Marco de Ana / Javiera de la Fuente / Rudolf Rostas, AND AND AND, Oreet Ashery, Barat Ali Batoor, Zanny Begg, Irene Bude / Steffen Jörg / Olaf Sobczak, Constant / PIE flamenco, Margit Czenki / Renée Tribble, Ines Doujak, Pilar Mata Dupont, Katharina Duve / Ted Gaier / Timo Schierhorn & Die Goldenen Zitronen, Echohäuser, Etcétera, Israel Galván / Manuel Soler, María García Ruiz, Mariam Ghani, Isaías Griñolo / Los Flamencos, Miguel A. López, Antonio Marín Márquez, Rocío Márquez / Jorge Martínez. Charo Martín, Megafonchor (Svenja Baumgart, Sylvi Kretzschmar), Mindj Panther, Nobodycorp. Internationale Unlimited, Daniela Ortiz, Tomás de Perrate / Amador Gabarri, Oliver Ressler, Pedro G. Romero / Máquina P.H., Christoph Schäfer, The Silent University, Bert Theis, Undrawing the Line, Videoccupy (Özge Çelikaslan), Stefan Voglsinger, Wealth of Negations, Katarzyna Winieck and others

Info Exhibition:
www.wkv-stuttgart.de/en/program/2015/exhibitions/utopian-pulse

Info Programme:
www.wkv-stuttgart.de/en/program/2015/exhibitions/utopian-pulse/gesamtprogramm