Stauung im Steinbruch, within the framework of Mitkunstzentrale, Enthüllt/Zitadelle Spandau
For the work Stauung im Steinbruch, we enter into the midst of the problematic group of figures from German history who now, in their second life, collectively inhabit the provisions magazine of the citadel. Despite their missing noses, severed heads and lost limbs, their problematic and sometimes threatening memories make them energetic mediators and persistent transmitters of memories, forgotten history and time gaps. Removing them from the urban heritage and placing them under museum observation is an understandable precautionary measure. Observed objects simply behave better.
After demolition, storage, description and reconstruction, they have now arrived on the ground – without a leading role. Non-representative transmitters of memories, woven into matter. With their diffuse chatter, they accompany the passing centuries – perhaps long after we human co-inhabitants have disappeared. Their mineral substance, formed from volcanic rock and marine cover, is for us mostly just a resource, property and material store.
Beyond our limited perception, their substance is a transporter across non-human time spans. From the quarry, released into the future, they confront us with scales that parody everything human – scales with the potential to unsettle our arrogance and mix our short history with chaos.
Along this fractured perspective, we undertake performative forays through our collective, inhabited by human and non-human actors.