In Pure Daylight
Art and Ecology interface in the “Down to Earth” Exhibition
Christine Matschke
Dance journalist
With the performative exhibition “Down to Earth”, the Gropius Bau has practically arrived at what Bruno Latour notes in his book “Face à Gaïa” (“Facing Gaia”): The ecological crisis has long ceased to be temporary, its extent too great, and human thought and action must be questioned. In this context, the Coronavirus crisis is proving to be a reaction accelerator. In the Gropius Bau this means: presenting art in a sustainable way without screens, microphones and loudspeakers. The schedule however is not affected by the belt-tightening measures – in addition to a dense network of installations and objects, there are daily changing live performances, workshops and expert discussions. In order to release feelings explosively, Meg Stuart, the master of the dissolution of boundaries, will now cast her solo „Signs of Affection“, premiered ten years ago in Rio de Janeiro, with the dancer Márcio Kerber Canabarro. Also represented from the field of dance, albeit already in August: Jared Gradinger & Angela Schubot with their renaturation project “The Opposite of a Shadowland”, Claire Vivianne Sobottke with “Velvet” and Shelley Etkin in one of her Landing sessions, an artistic format of meditative somatic exploration of land and body.