The rushed human being, striving from innovation to innovation, always with the feeling of missing something in the attempt at self-optimization. Climate crisis, wars, refugee movements as social conflicts that seem to inexorably take on a life of their own. An insecure humanity is drifting further and further apart into a gap between acceleration and innovation on the one hand and existential crises on the other. It is now becoming apparent that, despite all the progress we have made, we have often lost our way and have hardly any answers to the pressing questions and conflicts of our time. Has the mechanization of our environment really led to us having more time and freedom at our disposal? Enjoy more and lead a more relaxed life? Looking forward to old age and death in a relaxed manner? Or is it not rather the case that we have long been caught up in the spiral of acceleration culture and intensity and are afraid to step out, unaware of what could hold us and the world together and sustain us?
Can slowing down, returning to seemingly pointless activities or the playful qualities within us be a key to getting off the hamster wheel? Could humanity and encounters be a counterweight to insecurity and lack of stability? Can we leave the limits of acceleration that we encounter here without having to experience an existential loss? Is it possible to experience digitalization and mechanization as supportive again in this context? Could we then perhaps also develop answers to the crises of our time?
The simplicity of the action, the movement, the stillness, the calm in the constant forward and back. The thoughts that can wander and come to themselves.
As an introduction to the exhibition, Wilhelm Schmid (philosopher, Berlin) will read from his recently published book: "Schaukeln, die kleine Kunst der Lebensfreude".
Together with the performance artist Nezaket Ekici (Berlin and Stuttgart), visitors to the exhibition are invited to enter a poetic space and accompany the artist audiovisually on her ascent to the summit along the Damüls Swing Hiking Trail. At the opening, Ms. Ekici will read from her summit diary, which will be written on the Damüls swing hike, in which she will record her thoughts, impressions and feelings along the hike and present them from an artist's perspective. The idea is to take this presentation out of the exhibition space and into the Damüls restaurants, reviving the old tradition of passing on experiences orally. Ms. Ekici will be accompanied on her walk by film, so that a permanent projection in the exhibition room will remain accessible to visitors for the duration of the exhibition.
This search for clues is extended by a look into our digital future on the upper floor of the exhibition. With all the opportunities, but also the dangers of our current and future possibilities, it is likely to become increasingly important not to lose sight of people as people themselves. In this sense, we can experiment "with the future" here!
In a second room, viewers are invited to take a visual journey through life's past, present and future with confidence, without losing the traces of childhood and without shying away from the encounter with old age. The realization of this work would not have been possible without our technical possibilities, yet at the same time it speaks a human and "decelerated" language.
The framework for the topics outlined is provided by images, texts and film material that deal with the history of swinging. We have succeeded in borrowing the original photographs from the book "Frauen, die schaukeln" (Claudia Grabowski, Bremen) for the exhibition, which provide a historical insight into the pictures of swinging women from 1880 to the 1960s. There will also be a short excursion into the art history of painting the swing motif.
Contemporary photographic works will be presented by Sarah Solderer (South Tyrol), who will present two of her projects from 2017 in the form of photographs and a film: Swings installed at various bus stops in Athens and Cuba. The swing, which swings back and forth, is a metaphor for the rhythm of commuters going and coming, in their daily routines: sometimes faster, sometimes slower - on a scaled-down scale. We will take up and expand these interventions in urban space in a separate project for Damüls.
For all those who are young at heart, there will be a reading from the wonderful book "Die Schaukel", by Britta Teckentrup, which combines a philosophical journey for children and adults with the swing picture.
