Exhibition
Participating artists: Constanze Budcke, Andre Bagh, Philip Benkert, Rachel Fäth, Yuchu Gao, Johanna Gonschorek, Stefan Holzmair, Bokyoung Jeong, Wanho Joung, Frida Kato, Anna-Lena Keller, Minhye Kim, Michael Mönnich, Barbara Posch, Laia Marti Puig, Viola Relle, Raphael Weilguni, Rebecca Ruchti, Gloria Sogl, Ayaka Terajima, Haha Wang, Sun Zhenyu
Schwaz is a small town in Tyrol, the development and prosperity of which is bound up with silver mining. In the 15th and 16th centuries, around 85% of all silver mining in the known world at that time was taking place in Schwaz. The site’s historical mining heritage, and the class’s engagement with raw materials and the socio-economic conditions under which they are produced, serve as the foundation for the exhibition, creating a framework for engaging with the politics of resource extraction and related issues like human labour, colonialism, and landscape policies. At the same time, the works draw parallels with more recent phenomena of “mining”, such as the data and personal information extraction inherent in the “digital economy” to generate profit. Along with conceptual and research-based approaches, the exhibition focuses explicitly on material and aesthetic impulses that emerge from the issues at play and the juxtaposition of material and immaterial extraction.
There will be a publication accompanying the exhibition. The exhibition is sponsored by the Danner Foundation and the publication supported by the Akademieverein.
Sujet & Text © Nicole Wermers
Photos © Verena Nagl unless otherwise noted
