power! light! kunstmuseum wolfsburg exhibition explores the political dimension of light art

A fascinating spectrum of light art at kunstmuseum wolfsburg

from now until july 10, 2022, kunstmuseum wolfsburg presents power! light!, an exhibition that brings together roughly eighty light art works by sixty-five internationally renowned artists including monica bonvicini, olafur eliasson, joseph beuys, christian boltanski, cerith wyn evans and more. unlike the light art exhibitions realized so far, power! light! does not gather a comprehensive overview of all possible artworks in which electric light is used in any way. instead, it concentrates on those works that make political, social, ecological, or manipulative statements.

based on selected works from the museum’s collection, the show brings together a fascinating spectrum of works of light art, presented in the large, darkened hall of approximately 1,500 sqm. some of the (socio-)political areas it addresses on a conceptual level are: utopia/dystopia; ecology/biology; economy; violence/power; control/surveillance; advertising/manipulation; enlightenment/ obscurity; border/exclusion; public space, and more.

installation view ‘power! light!’, kunstmuseum wolfsburg, march 12, – july 10, 2022

all installation photos by marek kruszewski

header image: lori hersberger, sunset 164, 2006, neon systems, black float glass, 164 x 300 x 1.8 cm (neon), 164 x 300 x ca. 400 cm (installation dimensions), © lori hersberger studio, courtesy lori hersberger studio, zurich, photo: hans-georg gaul, berlin

AN EXHIBITION EXAMINING THE POLITICAL SIDE OF LIGHT ART

‘light is as natural to us as the air we breathe,’ reads the power! light!’ exhibition text. ‘in its electrically generated form, we use it without giving it much thought, switching light bulbs, LEDs, fluorescent tubes, or spotlights on and off as we need them. despite its absolute ordinariness, light is one of the most fascinating phenomena known to science and intellectual history…our entire contemporary civilization is inconceivable without electric light; and yet, despite technical advancements and undeniable benefits, light is also associated with light pollution, species extinction, and energy waste. on the one hand, light makes cultural events possible, offers social space and protection, can stage people, objects, or consumer articles and thus lend them meaning. on the other hand, power is exercised with the targeted use of electric light: it can be used to monitor, manipulate, exclude, or even destroy.’

some of the works in the kunstmuseum wolfsburg exhibition address the extent to which we are all trained and manipulated by advertising, such as monica bonvicini’s neon sign ‘NOT FOR YOU’ (2006). others rise questions regarding romanticism, happiness, and utopias, like lori hersberger’s ‘sunset 164’ (2006), in which colorful neon arches feign an eternal sunset—a state that is neither day nor night and quickly ends in the beauty of mere superficial appearance. meanwhile, warren neidich’s spectacular ‘pizzagate neon’ installation spotlights the politically motivated fake news scandal in the run-up to the 2016 american presidential election surrounding hillary clinton’s alleged involvement in a child porn ring. power! light! is on view until july 10, 2022, and is accompanied by a comprehensive bilingual publication with texts by renowned authors from the fields of art history, philosophy, theology, and biology.

installation view of the exhibition, featuring alfredo jaar’s ‘kultur = kapital’ (2016) in the background

installation view ‘power! light!’, kunstmuseum wolfsburg, march 12, – july 10, 2022 | lori hersberger, zombie voyager no.1 (sunset 368), 2022, neon systems, black float glass, kunstmuseum wolfsburg, donation of telos stiftung, wädenswil, © lori hersberger studio, zurich

mario merz, objet cache- toi, 1968, iron rods, wire mesh, linen sacks filled with wood shavings, neon systems, variable transformer, 110 x ø 210 cm, kunstmuseum wolfsburg, © mario merz / VG bild-kunst, bonn 2022, photo: helge mundt

georg herold, house within his darkness [ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος] (cyber- merz), holz, stahlrohr, leuchtmittel, elektroinstallationen, apfelsine, 1995, wood, steel tube, fluorescent tubes, electrical installation, 325 x 195 x 258 cm, kunstmuseum wolfsburg, © georg herold / VG bild-kunst, bonn 2022, photo: helge mundt

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nana petzet, lichtfalle hamburg, 2015/2018, art event in the port of hamburg with light object (fluorescent tubes on aluminum carrier, light sail), ca. 450 x 330 x 30 cm, © nana petzet / VG bild-kunst, bonn 2022, courtesy the artist, photo: helge mundt

los carpinteros, it ́s not che, it ́s angela merkel, 2014, powder-coated aluminum, leds, 170 x 120 x 8 cm, © los carpinteros, courtesy los carpinteros and galerie peter kilchmann, zurich, photo: jason wyche, new york

molitor & kuzmin, brauchen wir licht?, 1996, fluorescent tubes, ballasts, debris container, 150 x 180 x 360 cm, © molitor & kuzmin, courtesy molitor & kuzmin, photo: claus langer

pousttchi bettina, double monument for flavin and tatlin XIII, 2014, crowd barriers, powder coated, fluorescent tubes, 280 x 160 x 132 cm, © courtesy buchmann galerie, berlin

bernardí roig, der italiener (the cow), 2011, polyester resin, iron, fluorescent tubes, 280 x 120 x 130 cm, © bernardí roig, courtesy the artist and kewenig, palma/berlin, photo: silvia león

mariana vassileva, burned hands, 2013, charred wood, neon system, 60 x 45 x 30 cm, kunstmuseum wolfsburg, on permanent loan from a private collection, © mariana vassileva, kunstmuseum wolfsburg, photo: mariana vassileva

project info:

name: power! light!

location: kunstmuseum wolfsburg

duration: march 12 – july 10, 2022

curators: andreas beitin and holger broeker
junior curators: elena engelbrechter and regine epp

participating artists: siegrun appelt, awst & walther, maja bajević, matthias berthold, joseph beuys, christian boltanski, monica bonvicini, madeleine boschan, daniel canogar, claire fontaine, jürgen & nora claus, bill culbert, sven drühl, sam durant, olafur eliasson, patrick fenech, sylvie fleury, petrit halilaj, georg herold, lori hersberger, damien hirst, michael hirschbichler, stephan huber, alfredo jaar, christian jankowski, anne marie jugnet & alain clairet, šejla kamerić, brigitte kowanz, mischa kuball, dominik lejman, los carpinteros, !mediengruppe bitnik, tatsuo miyajima, molitor & kuzmin, robert montgomery, heike mutter und ulrich genth, warren neidich, jens pecho, nana petzet, daniel pflumm, bettina pousttchi, tobias rehberger, ariel reichman, bernardí roig, gregor schneider, silke silkeborg, paul thek, tim noble & sue webster, timm ulrichs, mariana vassileva, peter weibel, cerith wyn evans, naneci yurdagül