The class for Art in a Contemporary Context cordially invites you to the opening of the exhibition “ASSEMBLAGE” on Wednesday, 11 February 2026, from 4 p.m. in their studio spaces in the south building of the Kunsthochschule Kassel.
assemblage /əˈsɛmblɪdʒ/ noun
• a collection or gathering of things or people.
• a machine or object made of pieces fitted together.
• a work of art made by grouping together found or unrelated objects.
The term assemblage is polysemic, holding several interrelated meanings. One refers directly to the historical art form of assemblage—the artistic grouping of found or unrelated objects. The other definitions, drawn from different fields such as philosophy, psychoanalysis, engineering, archeology, or everyday language, open parallel paths for artistic conception and realisation.
From the perspective of a vibrant materialism assemblages are crucial for orienting oneself in the world. Since they are “not governed by any central head” the “responsibility of an individual human resides in one’s response to the assemblages in which one finds oneself participating”; (Jane Bennett: Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things, 2009, pp. 24/ 37)
Following “Conversing with the Ghosts of the Previously Tamed” (February 2025) and “Wild Things” (July 2025), “ASSEMBLAGE” is the class’s third exhibition, developed in collaboration with Christoph Keller as interim professor.
Date
Wednesday, 11 February 2026, from 4 p.m.
Location
Studio spaces in the south building, Kunsthochschule Kassel