An Exhibition, A Stage, and An Event Program
Elkin Kutluer, Lara Pigorsch, Leonie Heidel, Lisa Barnabei, Lukas Wächtler, Majd Alshibani, monia pieniążek, Seryun Yang, Soo Oei Kim, and with curatorial support from Heamin Lee
Guest lecturer: Shirin Sabahi
Opening:
Tue 23 Jan 2024, 18:00-21:00
Duration:
Jan 24 to Feb 18, 2024
Opening hours:
Tue, Sat, Sun 13:00-18:00 and during events
The project is driven by a desire to redefine the exhibition space, prioritizing the transformation of the venue itself over showcasing individual artworks. The focal point is a dynamic spatial construction functioning as a stage for events hosted by participating artists and guests—discussions, performances, concerts. Twice a week, these activities infuse the empty space with collective movements, concerns, and future visions. During the visiting hours, the stage, accessible to all, transcends formal and temporal boundaries, providing an unconventional viewpoint on the exhibition space. In a separate behind-the-scene area within the exhibition, remnants of the working process and unrealized ideas are displayed, underscoring the infinite possibilities of exhibition making. The project embodies a transformative approach, whether experimenting with exhibition forms or engaging in proactive initiatives that enrich the vibrancy of the art school and the art scene in Kassel.
An exhibition as part of the guest lecturer program "An empty Space" in cooperation with the BPA//Berlin program for artists.
Program of events
23.01.2024, 18:00-21:00 (during the opening)
Are you awake? by Lara Pigorsch
6.5 inch projection screen for other people's lives
6.5 inch projection screen for distraction
6.5 inch to network, to feel connected
6.5 inch for your self-marketing
6.5 inch for instant gratification
6.5 inch to sell and consume
A performative exploration of obsessive behavior patterns in everyday life.
Tarot Reading with Lisa Barnabei
Tarot is a practice for understanding our unconscious selves. My idea is to offer individual tarot readings to the visitors of An Empty Space who might be interested in such an experience. Together, we will inhabit a space in which the reader and the visitor can each have their interpretations. By using the tarot cards I would like to offer a moment of reflection to explore our spiritual reality.
Every consultation will be private and last around 30 minutes.
Language: English
osc by Elkin Kutluer
An experimental sound performance.
Thu 25.01.2024, 18:00-20:00
team binding with Lukas Wächtler
26 meters long
16 individual strands
12 seams
Canvas filled with cotton
Explore the 'empty space' in a playful manner. An invitation to play and interact. Use the tools from the 'softtool' series and discover your personal application. A specific purpose has never been assigned to the tool. Embark on playful exploration alone or together, detached from meaning and purpose.
Mon 29.01.2024, 18:00-20:00
Just mending together Repair Sewing Workshop with Seryun Yang
Seryun Yang learned the repair sewing technique of the Karen ethnic minority in Thailand at the "Deadly Sewing Club_visible mending" in Korea. The sewing club operates by the core philosophy of connecting individuals through sewing and building up a movement for the next generations by mending and re-wearing clothes.
At the workshop in Kassel, the focus will not only be on the mending technique and aesthetics, but also on learning about solidarity and cultivating an attitude towards re-wearing through the practice of ‘repair sewing.’
Prior knowledge of sewing is not necessary. Sewing material and fabric will be provided. You are welcome to bring your clothing to repair.
More information about the Deadly Sewing Club @da_jojin_da
Language: German
Thu 01.02.2024, from 18:00
a quiet absence of an emotion with Leonie Heidel
An open evening of listening to beautiful music together. There will be an open Spotify playlist that is shared with the whole Kunsthochschule. Everyone can contribute to the playlist with the songs they love and find meaningful.
What is needed to start feeling different about something, and to develop trust? The Ausstellungshalle is seen as an exhibition space through a specific gaze and according to the expectations embedded in certain contemporary understandings of art and social life. I often think there is an urge to create distant or cool things. There is the fear that an open-source playlist would fill up with ironic or atmospheric music, instead of the music that is truly important to someone.
But maybe there is the possibility to do it anyway. The evening is an experiment in sharing those songs.
Mon 05.02.2024, 18:00-20:00
Just Mending Together Repair Sewing Workshop with Seryun Yang
Seryun Yang learned the repair sewing technique of the Karen ethnic minority in Thailand at the "Deadly Sewing Club_visible mending" in Korea. The sewing club operates by the core philosophy of connecting individuals through sewing and building up a movement for the next generations by mending and re-wearing clothes.
At the workshop in Kassel, the focus will not only be on the mending technique and aesthetics, but also on learning about solidarity and cultivating an attitude towards re-wearing through the practice of ‘repair sewing.’
Prior knowledge of sewing is not necessary. Sewing material and fabric will be provided. You are welcome to bring your clothing to repair.
More information about the Deadly Sewing Club @da_jojin_da
Language: German
Thu 08.02.2024, 18:00-20:00
Interwoven Bodies Workshop with Lara Pigorsch
With the help of mindfulness exercises and body work, we approach the principles of contact
improvisation in a playful way. We get to know rolling, sliding and guiding in partner work and start non-verbal communication through dance. The focus is particularly on sensitizing the senses. By warming up the body and doing meditative exercises, we lay the foundations for becoming aware and listening. Our largest sensory organ, the skin, is prepared for impulses from outside and by slowing down we find the connection to our partner.
Language: German/English
Thu 15.02.2024, 16.00 – 20.00
How to talk about... Current discourses in art and culture after 7.10.2023
Workshop by guests of the Anne Frank Educational Center, organized by monia pieniążek
The Anne Frank Educational Centre offers a comprehensive educational program for young people and adults on anti-Semitism and racism. In view of the debates and events in the cultural scene since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and the ongoing war, many people are asking themselves about the role and responsibility of actors in art and culture. This workshop is a space for exchange and orientation: Along the question of what criticism of the Israeli government's policies is and what Israel-related Antisemitism is, the workshop offers support in dealing with a polarized debate. The workshop opens up spaces for reflection and uses various examples to explore with the participants the question of how to act in a way that is critical of anti-Semitism and racism.
4h, max. 20 participants, workshop in German/English spoken language
Registration at m[at]pieniazek.de
Sun 18.02.2024 (Finissage)
14:00-16:00
usw. usw. Reading Workshop with Soo Oei Kim
This workshop follows the activities of “usw. usw.” that first took place in August last year. It explores the concept of artistic creation through reading and the act of writing with the Roland Barthes' book The Pleasure of the Text. As creators or writers how do we find and enjoy the pleasure of creation, and how do we experience that enjoyment? Furthermore, through the personal writings of Marguerite Duras*, we will consider how individual life is connected to and estranged from the works of art. After reading the text, each participant will visually express their thoughts and reflections through images, photos, etc., and share them with others.
*“This book has neither beginning nor end, it has no medium. Since there is no book without a reason for being, this book is not one. It is not a newspaper, it is not journalism, it is free from daily events. Let's say it's a reading book.” (Duras, Marguerite, La Vie matérielle, 1987)
Link to the previous usw. usw. activities: Link
Language: German
16:00-18:00
Are you awake? by Lara Pigorsch with Interwoven.bodies Company
6.5 inch projection screen for other people's lives
6.5 inch projection screen for distraction
6.5 inch to network, to feel connected
6.5 inch for your self-marketing
6.5 inch for instant gratification
6.5 inch to sell and consume
A performative exploration of obsessive behavior patterns in everyday life.
Tarot Reading with Lisa Barnabei
Tarot is a practice for understanding our unconscious selves. My idea is to offer individual tarot readings to the visitors of An Empty Space who might be interested in such an experience. Together, we will inhabit a space in which the reader and the visitor can each have their interpretations. By using the tarot cards I would like to offer a moment of reflection to explore our spiritual reality.
Every consultation will be private and last around 30 minutes.
Language: English
osc by Elkin Kutluer
An experimental sound performance.