LICHT LUFT SCHEISSE – "ARCHAEOLOGIES OF SUSTAINABILITY" at the nGbK
Licht Luft Scheiße was a twin exhibition and an event program, funded by the German Cultural Foundation and the Lotto Stiftung in occasion of the 2019 Bauhaus anniversary. The project title, Licht Luft Scheiße, derived from the Swiss architect Le Corbusier’s catchphrase, “De la lumière, de l’air et du soleil.” While “Light, Air, and Sun” was generally thought of as part of the dogma of the “hygienic style” of architecture in the 1920s, Licht Luft Scheiße was dedicated to the positions that can be seen as precursors of today’s environmental movement.
With contributions by several researchers and artists, Archaeologies of Sustainability followed an inductive methodology, which through a multitude of artefacts and source texts, supplemented by a selection of contemporary artistic works, opened up a history of sustainability that is as focused as fragmentary. The underlying principle for the exhibition architecture was to recycle the materials from the previous exhibition. From the need to separate the reception area from the first projection of the exhibition a wall was inserted, which stood in 45° to the orientation of the exhibition space. Through a parallel shift to three other edges of the exhibition space, the otherwise corridor-like situation became a more complex spatial structure. This created diverse exhibition possibilities without obstructing the view through which the overall dimension of the space can be experienced. A gap between plywood panels in each case marked the collision with the existing corner points, rather than concealing them. At the bend at the end of the room, the inserted long diagonal wall provided a generous room for the display artifacts and film projections and was a transition into the final room, which was lit by a window exposed through a breach in the drywall.
With contributions by: Marte Aas, Tal Alon-Mozes, bankleer, Sandra Bartoli, Oliver Botar, Marcella Malin Brunner & Prima Mathawabhan & Patricia Tibu, Jone del Valle & Ricarda Hörmann, Joerg Franzbecker & Gitte Villesen, David H. Haney, Martina Hanusová, Michael Klein & Sasha Pirker, Aglaia Konrad, Joachim Krausse, Wolfram Kunick, Silvan Linden, Stefano Mancuso & LINV, Joaquín Medina Warmburg, Alessandra Ponte, Daniel Spruth, Tal Sterngast, Florian Wüst
