The Power of Wonder New Materialisms in Contemporary Art

by Superflex, Superflex; Mirhosseini, Navaz; Ingarden, Agata; Knickmeier, Natalia; D’Allotta, Giulia; Hoppe, Katharina; Heinzelmann, Markus; Prause, Maike; Smithson, Robert; Kostan, Anastassija; Jablonowski, David; Schmidt, Eva; Rottmann, Kathrin; Paul, Mart

• ISBN13: 9783969120828
• ISBN10: 3969120829
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2023-03-01
• Publisher: DCV

Summary

The Power of Wonder – New Materialisms in Contemporary Art For the longest time, physical matter was seen as no more than a passive and lifeless object. Since the early years of the twenty-first century, however, visual artists and scientists alike have initiated a change of thinking, conceiving matter as active, unruly, and autonomous. The ethnologist Hans Peter Hahn has called it the “ willfulness of things,” while the Belgian philosopher Isabelle Stengers has underscored the “ power of wonder” — the bracing sense of marvel and surprise instilled by a material world that sometimes defies the attempt to put it into words. This pioneering publication features six selected artistic positions that highlight the New Materialism’ s significance for contemporary art. The artists employ materials that are millions of years old such as rocks from an open-pit mine as well as classic inorganic staples like ceramics and cutting-edge materials like digital products transformed in high-tech procedures into hitherto unseen hybrid objects. Their work lends art a powerful voice in contemporary debates around man’ s position vis-à -vis his environment, around sustainability, participation, and justice.

Author Biography

Superflex is a Danish artist group founded in 1993 by Jakob Fenger, Rasmus Nielsen and Bjø rnstjerne Christiansen. Superflex describe their projects as Tools, as proposals that invite people to participate in and communicate the development of experimental models that alter the economic production conditions. Navaz Mirhosseini is an art historian. Agata Ingarden, born in Krakó w/Poland in 1994, is a artist living and working in Paris; studied at Beaux-Arts de Paris (2013-18) and Cooper Union, New York (2016). Natalia Knickmeier is an art historian. Giulia D’ Allotta ist Kunstvermittlerin bei Situation Kunst - Museum unter Tage. Ruhr-Universitä t Bochum. Katharina Hoppe, Dr. phil., is a research associate at the Institute for Sociology at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. Markus Heinzelmann (* 1965 in Frankfurt am Main) is a German art historian, curator, museum director and university lecturer. Maike Prause is a freelance art and theater painter. Robert Smithson was a US painter and land art artist. Anastassija Kostan is a doctoral student at Goethe University Frankfurt David Jablonowski is one of the most internationally acclaimed contemporary sculptors. Dr. Eva Schmidt (born 1957 in Hannover) is an art historian, curator and director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Siegen. Kathrin Rottmann is an art historian. Martin Alfons Paul is a German clinical pharmacologist. On 1 May 2011 he succeeded Jo Ritzen as president of Maastricht University. On 29 April 2021 it was announced that he will succeed Axel Schö lmerich as rector of the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany on 1 November 2021. Yesi Dong is an art historian. Paula Thieme manages the German Employer Branding Academy (DEBA). Dr. Maria Bremer is an art historian specializing in contemporary art and exhibition history, with a focus on artistic subjectivity, curatorial practice, art criticism, Italian Studies, feminism and historiography. Annika Bü ttner is an art historian. Tibor Krauß is an art historian. Markus Karstieß is a German sculptor and university lecturer. Tatjana Wasikanon is an Art History MA student. Ilana Halperin (born 1973) is an artist with an interest in the relationships between geological phenomena and daily life.