"STATE OF FLUX"

Berlin-based artist Nele Schwierkus presents sculptures made of steel at the Galerie im Turm that continue to change constantly throughout the exhibition period, through the hands of the artist and the physical strength of visitors. The form of the “Mäander” [Meanders] is thus permanently in flux — in a State of Flux. Nele Schwierkus, who trained in stage sculpture at the Maxim Gorki Theater, studied fine art at the Universität der Künste, and received the UdK’s Meisterschüler Prize in 2012, seeks to reveal the potential and formal diversity of ostensibly static objects.

Her works are manifestations of situations and actions, the results of immense physical and mechanical force: she has had a bathtub shaped by an excavator, and virtuosically folded steel with the help of a pallet truck. Yet the strength of her own feet and hands, and the impact of her full body weight, also give voice to the artistic material.

In her exhibition at the Galerie im Turm, visitors too are activated: they become participants and co-determine the form of the exhibition, which is therefore never final. The process also encompasses the sound produced by the moving steel, and comes to an end only on the last day of the exhibition.

Interview with Nele Schwierkus