NKR Call #1: NOURISHING GROUND
gaehtgens.hirsch
Opening: Oct 08, 2020, 7:00 pm
Duration: Oct 09, 2020 – Nov 08, 2020
Photos: Johannes Bendzulla
In 2020, the artist duo gaehtgens.hirsch developed the project NÄHRBODEN and made a stop at the exhibition space NKR. Part of NOURISHING GROUND was TOGETHERradio, a series of conversations about collaboration. The collected conversation material has now been transformed by gaehtgens.hirsch into the online exhibition DER GROSSE HAUFEN.
In the project the artist duo did field research on collaboration. Daniela Maria Hirsch and David Gaehtgens were on site for the duration of the exhibition and developed images that gradually became accessible through the NKR's windows. They worked on their topic in discussions with guests. The conversations were broadcasted live on this website: TOGETHERradio Visitors could found out more in the foyer of the NKR and gained an impression of the growing assemblage. Conversations on TOGETHERradio during opening hours were transmitted to the foyer via loudspeakers.
An exploration of collective working and thinking
- So this is where we want to stay now? Do you think we will benefit from actually being here, personally and physically?
- It’s an experiment. It will be exciting to see how we, as microorganisms, will react in an artificial environment. Will we be able to grow, will we complement or displace each other, what exchange of intellectual or actual nutrients will we be able to produce? Can this be fruitful for others?
- Is this even a milieu in which we can settle, at least temporarily?
- In the beginning there will not be much on display. Don’t you think people will be irritated?
- Maybe, but we ourselves need adjusting too, with all the uncertainty.
- So, should we just start growing in the hope of being contagious to someone out there?
- I know what you mean, but it sounds strange right now.
- How can we exhibit given the current circumstances?
- Originally we wanted to have encounters and talk, doing things which are difficult right now…
- We want to explore cooperation and its circumstances and now we retreat.
- We will talk, just without physical encounters. We can try and make contact through the issues.
- But people have expectations when they visit an exhibition.
- We will have to work with transitioning visuals to communicate with the outside.
- Contact through the glass wall? Maybe we have to get used to this. Was it really so different before?
- Cooperation is such a huge issue. From the microbes within me to economic associations, from division of labour to belonging, consensus building and decision-making processes, it can affect anything. The topic is complex and there is always the danger of missing the point.
- That is always a risk.
- So we are using the exhibition space like a Petri dish.
- Simply creating a nourishing ground and putting the lid on it….
- Well, some exchange is required within a culture medium.
- We can make calls.
- And receive calls.
- Let’s start swimming. And sense the motion.
- What we set into motion.
- What evolves.
- We’ll see.
Conversations and a changeable installation
PREMISE
8.10.20, 8 p.m.
gaehtgens.hirsch, Detlef Klepsch, Anne Schülke and guests at the NKR:
Calling-In - which questions will appear?
9.10.20, 12 p.m.
Radio- and sound researcher: What is radio and what can it do?
10.10.20, 3 p.m.
Artist and teacher: Learning about cooperation at school - what is the perspective of a teacher in physical education?
13.10.20, 10 a.m.
Biologist and molecular pathologist: cells and teamwork - what is biology's view on communication?
13.10.20, 2 p.m.
Artist and pharmacist: What is involved the process of change?
15.10.20, 3 p.m.
Cultural scientist: Radical Happiness - what is that all about?
18.10.20, 3 p.m.
Artists, idea-providers and organizers: The poster as a conceptual container - how does that work?
18.10.20, 5 p.m.
gaehtgens.hirsch: How are we reflecting the PREMISES?
HABITAT
21.10.20, 2 p.m.
Artist and pharmacist: What happens when a trial is a failure?
22.10.20, 11 a.m.
Entomologist and head of a biological station: Flamingos, Gulls and North-Rhine Westphalia - what kind of community is this?
22.10.20, 3 p.m.
Spokesperson for the tenants’ council of the Salzmannbau: what kind of habitat is this environment we are currently visiting?
23.10.20, 3 p.m.
Two residential experimentalists: How do we want to live?
BOUNDARY
24.10.20, 4 p.m.
Trainer for non-violent communication: What are the options when a conversation is burning?
25.10.20, 3 p.m.
Interspecies collective: what is collaboration in your perspective?
29.10.20, 2 p.m.
Artist and pharmacist: What is boredom?
31.1020, 4 p.m.
Therapist and philosopher: What ist the impact of frustrations when acting together?
CONTACT
1.11.20, 4 p.m.
Artist: What is different in making art and talking about art?
5.11.2020, 3 p.m.
Dancer and communicator: What happens in a dialogue without words?
7.11.2020, 2 p.m.
Artist and pharmacist: What is autonomy?
8.11.2020, 4 p.m.
Two musicians: Improvisation - what is that all about?
8.11.2020, 5 p.m.
gaehtgens.hirsch and together with everyone calling in: How is the connection?
