Pole der Unzugänglichkeit
Ana Alenso, Eren İleri, Dina Khouri, José Montealegre, Elisa Strinna
20 Jul–17 Sep 23
Opening: 19 Jul 23
Many names have been given to the remotest place in the ocean: “South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area” (SPOUA) defines it as furthest away from inhabited land. “Spacecraft Cemetery” describes the region as the designated crashing site for space debris. “Point Nemo” (Nemo=Nobody) suggests a point in “no man*’s land” and “Pole of Inaccessibility” refers to a location that matches the geographical criteria for physical unreachability.
These designations convey narratives that neither take non-human existences nor the destructive impact of human life on oceanic ecosystems into account. In this context “inaccessibility” implies a claim to potential (colonial) enclosure in the future.
The Pacific pole of inaccessibility is the starting point for the exhibition, which explores the condition of and anthropocentric approach to supposedly inaccessible places in the ocean and beyond.
Pole der Unzugänglichkeit is the second part of the exhibition series
– conceptions of (extra)terrestrial worlds between reality and fiction.
EVENTS
Opening
and Live Modular Performance by ILYICH
Jul 19, 23, 6–10 pm
Artist Talk
with José Montealegre
Aug 6, 23, 5–6 pm
Workshop in Simple Language
Traces of Humankind with F3_kollektiv
Aug 23, 23, 3–5 pm
Artist Talk
with Ana Alenso
Sep 3, 23, 5–6 pm
Workshop
Haunted Waters with Nonhuman Nonsense
Sep 7, 23, 6–8 pm
Curator’s Tours
Into the Underground with Johanna Janßen
Jul 26, Aug 2+9+30, Sep 6+13, 23, 6–7 pm
About the artists
ANA ALENSO lives and works in Berlin
Ana Alenso’s artistic practice addresses the social and environmental impacts of extractivism, global resource politics, and the trade of precious metals and fossil fuels. Her installations, often temporary and closed-circuit assemblages, consist of sculptures, photographs, sound, and video made from industrial materials intentionally sourced from recycled, reused, and repurposed sources. Her poetic yet darkly dystopian work is usually preceded by extensive research and field studies.
Ana Alenso’s recent solo exhibitions include MAD RUSH (2022) at Nkrumah Volini in Tamale (GH) and The mine gives, the mine takes (2020/21) at Galerie Wedding in Berlin.
EREN İLERI lives and works in Berlin and Vienna.
Eren İleri is a researcher, publicist and artist. His artistic and academic research focuses on manifestations of disembodied masculinities and race in the cultural production of space in contemporary science fiction video games.
Together with Ipek Burcak, Eren İleri is the co-founder of the Vienna and Berlinbased publishing house Well Gedacht Publishing, which produces publications in collaboration with artists from diasporic communities.
DINA KHOURI lives and works in Berlin.
Dina Khouri works primarily with painting. As the title Paintings at a Loss (2017-2020) suggests, it is the intersection of the two that informs her practice. The geometric steel grid serves as a recurring artistic material for Khouri, allowing her to incorporate alongside oil paint, light and shadow into her work. Her installations often refer to the architectural context in which they are located.
Khouri’s work has most recently been exhibited at the Lagos Biennale (NGA, 2019), Klosterruine Berlin (2021), and as part of the Berlin Program for Artists at Gropius Bau at Martin Gropius Bau (2020).
JOSÉ MONTEALEGRE lives and works in Berlin.
José Montealegre develops poetic collages and sculptures from images and texts he finds in historical books and antiquarian documents. Responding to its surroundings, Montealegre’s installation art is relational and concerned with worldbuilding. He is currently working on a series of copper reproductions of plant illustrations from a 16th century encyclopedia.
José Montealegre’s work has recently been shown in solo exhibitions at the Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne (2022), Klosterruine and Mountains in Berlin (both 2021).
ELISA STRINNA lives and works in Rotterdam.
Elisa Strinna works conceptually on long-term research projects on ecosystems, exploring the relationship between nature, man and technology. Strinna’s artistic research results in immersive, atmospheric installations of sculpture, video and sound. She presents hybrid worlds that make it impossible to separate the natural, the cultural and the artificial.
Elisa Strinna’s last solo exhibitions were two iteration of Blind Sun (2019/2021) at Tale of a Tub in Rotterdam (NL) and Culturgest in Porto (PT). Her work My Body is a Plant – roots my nervous system (2022) was also shown at documenta 15 in Kassel.
Team
CURATOR: Johanna Janßen
HEAD OF PRODUCTION: Carolina Redondo
INSTALLATION TEAM: Carlos Busquets, Danilo Cozzi, Josephin Hanke and Juan Sáez
GALLERY SUPERVISION: J. Ferdinand Gieschke and Daniela Schoepe
The curator would like to thank the Team of Galerie im Turm and of Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, who are: Dani Hasrouni, Helen-Sophie Mayr, Johanna Böker, Josef Stöhr, Sofía Pfister, Stéphane Bauer and the team of supervisors.
Funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Community: Multi-Sector Funding, Exhibition Fund Municipal Galleries and Fund Exhibition Fees for Visual Artists.
Galerie im Turm is a facility of the municipality department office Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg.