»Movements towards formation«

Movement towards formation

Ursula Ströbele

“I have always admired how an idea that comes up and even if it would be the most abstract of ideas, lends us wings and carries us away. One is stuck, then suddenly moves forward, that is the meaning of thinking.“[1]

Stepping into motion, to progress, stand still, come back, act.
This activity usually takes place in obscurity, behind the scenes, revoked of any opponent’s gaze.In between fragments appear on the surface, twinkle out of the dark, leaving visible traces.
Their reverberation anticipates the inherent past movements and livens it up again right in front of the eyes of the spectator.
The genesis spoken of here, be it from spatial installation, sculpture, a painting rendered on canvas or film takes place as a performative action and could be interpreted in the understanding of Paul Valery, as dance: „Activity (..), deriving from common and appropriated activity, then detaching itself and in the end turning against it.“[2]
He carries on: “Each activity that isn’t in pursuit of the beneficial but can be cultivated, perfected and developed in fact ties in with this basic form of dance. And therefore all art can be regarded as a special case of this common idea since all art, as by definition, includes moments of activity, an activity that achieves the work or leads to its potency.“[3]
This implicit form of motion manifests itself in each work and inscribes itself in its rich texture. The artistic dance with the material leads up to its “Gestalt-Bild-ung” - >>movement towards formation<<. Towards here addresses a direction as well as probably a (even unconscious) target, which manifests itself in the size of canvases that are based on the artist’s height and reach or sculptural appropriations of space in opposition to entropic processes lost in chaotic openness or ruthless imposture of forms regardless of the material’s own intrinsic language. Thoughts are translated into body language, readable in the work, fixed.

The same-titled exhibition >>movements towards formation<< takes these reflections into account to show 6 international artists: Elena Bajo, Judy Millar, Stella Geppert, YorgosSanpountzis, Peter Welz und Michaela Zimmer. In Co-operation with frontviews and the Dachverband Tanz this groupshow is accompanied by a choreoraphy  of Canan Erek in the hallway during gallery weekend (30.4. – 3.5.2015) in the projectspace of Bethanien in Berlin.