The thematic starting point for the solo show (engl: We just pretend we are not there) are extreme states in civilization and nature. Tipping points in which the achievements of civilization begin to falter or even collapse.
(engl.: we’ll just pretend that we aren’t here) Marianne Halter addresses in her work repeatedly issues of spaces and their corporate and social functions. She explores them by means of photographic, moving and drawn images as well as text fragments and links them
together to create atmospherically dense installations. By restaging familiar motifs and everyday observations, doubt is spread upon the supposedly obvious images that opens them up for reinterpretations. The importance of spaces as a stage and projection room for constant selfassertion of individuals and entire societies is subtly thematized and questioned by Marianne Halters approach.
The theoretical base for the solo exhibition Wir tun einfach, als ob wir nicht da sind (engl.: we’ll just pretend that we aren’t here) are extreme conditions in civilization and nature. Tilting moments, in which the achievements of civilization falter or even collapse. Not the real catastrophe is in the foreground, but the expansion of the moment before, respectively the possible catharsis thereafter. This contrasts with the model of an individual – just like in the exhibited Video Hin und zurück (engl.: There and Back) by Marianne Halter and Mario Marchisella, 2015 – which for no apparent reason receives applause from a anonymous audience. The Individual transforms into a prototype and thereby becomes an universal comment, a reflexive meta level – very similar to the chorus in Greek tragedy.
Accompanying events
As a kind of complementary counterpart to the exhibition of Marianne Halter acts the acoustic intervention Analogue Meditations by actress Julie Bräuning (text / concept), which she performs for the first time live with musician Mario Marchisella.
In short equences, everyday, motly private and analogue actions are described in minute detail. These pieces contrast and complement the scene and images of the exhibition, which are set in public-urban space and address processes that are disconnected from the individual.
Material for the exhibition
- Invitation (german only)
- Press-release
- Article in General Anzeiger Bonn by Frau Dr. Strom-Rusche (german only)
- Exhibition publication
This project has been assisted by der Schweizer Kulturstiftung prohelvetia whom we would like to thank.
