Artists: DESIRE MACHINE COLLECTIVE, THOMAS HIRSCHHORN, MATHIAS KESSLER, SUPERFLEX, MIERLE LADERMAN UKELES, LOIS WEINBERGER
Curators: DIETER BUCHHART & ARNAUD GERSPACHER
Curatorial Advisor: MATHIAS KESSLER
January 23 - April 1, 2013
`{`UN`}`NATURAL LIMITS
Austrian Cultural Forum New York
About The Show
This exhibition at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York gathers together different artistic reactions to the alienating effects of the unfettered global exploitation of resources, and offers insight into the denial and myopia of current political responses to what increasingly appears to be a perpetual crisis. [UN]NATURAL LIMITS focuses on the environmental relays sent back in response to our human activities (or failures to act), while giving voice to various groups, thinkers, and artists who seek to interrupt narcissistic and destructive self-involvements in society.
The exhibition, which was curated by the Austrian-American team of Dieter Buchhart and Arnaud Gerspacher, maintains a deep ambiguity towards the modernist legacies of endless expansion and selective prosperity as our social and political systems slowly begin to confront the limits of growth and sustainability. Each artist or collective poses a challenge to the perceived limits that condition our understanding of the world: on the one hand, the limited prospect for action, compassion, and change, while on the other, the limitless drive for resources and capital in all its forms. A reversal is necessary: it is compassion that should be limitless.
[Image: Thomas Hirschhorn, Resistance-Subjecter (2011)]
Desire Machine Collective
Still from Periferry – An incomplete Balance Sheet (2013)
Video, text print
Courtesy of the artists
Thomas HIRSCHHORN
Resistance-Subjecter (2011)
Plexiglass-showcase with neon-lights, 8 mannequins
Dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery, New York
Exhibition view at the ACFNY
Photo by David Plakke
Thomas HIRSCHHORN
Resistance-Subjecter (2011)
Plexiglass-showcase with neon-lights, 8 mannequins
Dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery, New York
Exhibition view at the ACFNY
Photo by David Plakke
Mathias KESSLER
Jarrells Cemetery, N37o53.96’ W81o34.71’. Eunice Mountain. West Virginia. (2012)
Wallpaper & Sound installation
Dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist
SUPERFLEX
Experience Climate Change As A Mosquito (2009)
From the series Experience climate change as a…
Silkscreen print
31.5 x 43 inches
Courtesy 1301PE Gallery, Los Angeles
Mierle Laderman UKELES
Touch Sanitation Performance (1977-80)
Sweep 7, Staten Island, 6:00 am Roll Call
Black and white photograph
60 x 90 inches
Courtesy Feldman Fine Arts, New York
Mierle Laderman UKELES
Touch Sanitation Performance (1977-80)
Fresh Kills Landfill
Color photograph
60 x 90 inches
Courtesy Feldman Fine Arts, New York
Lois WEINBERGER
Invasion (2005/2011)
Tree fungus
Dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist
Photo by Paris Tsitsos
Press Release
Press Release (German)
Credits
Curators Dieter Buchhart & Arnaud Gerspacher
Curatorial Advisor Mathias Kessler
Exhibition Coordinator Natascha Boojar
Exhibition Assistants Leonie Bockelmann, Hanna Palmanshofer, Elena Todeva
Supporting Institutions of the Austrian Cultural Forum New York: Austrian Airlines, Esterházy Winery, RB International Finance (USA) LLC, Stiegl, Zumtobel
Special thanks to Patrick Cadenhead, Franklin Castanien, Ian Horn, Brian Sharrock, Joel Sheakoski