2023-08-10 14:38:00
Every two years, the Ludwig Museum in Cologne revisits contemporary art from its collection and organizes a new exhibition. In the center of the current selection, presented on Thursday, August 10, were works that talk about the value of time. Artists have always worked with the theme of the nature of time, notes curator Barbara Engelbach. Now this aspect has received a special meaning in art, she adds.
Barbara EngelbachPhoto: Thomas Banneyer/dpa/picture alliance
The starting point of the exposition is the idea of the German philosopher and cultural theorist Walter Benjamins about the “angel of history”, in which he united various opposing currents linking the past, present and future. A similar principle can be found in various aspects of the presented works, emphasizes the curator.
Fictitious facade and mockery of strict rhythm
Seven clocks showing time at seven points on the planet – an installation by US conceptual artist Mark Dion explains how the measurement of time is literally imposed on humanity. Dion created a fictitious façade for the cartography department of the Landscape Art Gallery in Hamburg, an international network of artists, and the clock on the wall refers to the locations of this network and at the same time ridicules the strict timekeeping that should regulate the course of events.
Chinese artist Guan Xiao introduces visitors to the symbols of the past. Part of her installation “Documentary: Geocentric Puncture” is a bicycle tire suspended between a tower of telephoto lenses and a camera tripod. It refers the viewer to the ancient symbol of a snake biting itself. Its modern counterpart is two CCTV cameras filming each other.
Quotes from famous works of the past
The connection between the past and the present can also be traced in the work of Anne Imhof, a native of Giessen. One of her works is a sample of printed graphics depicting contemporary American musical artist Eliza Douglas, frozen in a silent scream. So Imhof quotes the famous series of paintings by Edvard Munch, created at the turn of the XIX – XX centuries.
Installation by Carolyn LazardPhoto: Thomas Banneyer/dpa/picture alliance
Another work – a TV screen on a hinge – one of those that often stand in hospital wards. There is a live broadcast on the screen, which you can watch right there, sitting on a bench. The author of the installation “Long Stay” – American artist Carolyn Lazard – puts the viewer in the place of a patient, torn from the rhythm of everyday life, and thus shows that the perception of time often eludes objective units of measurement.
The new collection of the museum presents about 50 exhibits by more than 30 artists – paintings, installations, video works, photographs, graphics and sculptures. Most of the works were created already in the 21st century, only four exhibits come from the 1960s and 1980s. The exhibition “On the Value of Time” can be viewed until August 31, 2025.
See also:
#Museum #Cologne #questions #time #10.08.2023