David Frommhold, Manuel Hartmann, Hein Henkel, Coretta Klaue,
Paul Knopf, Mathias Lorenz,
Till Röttjer, Tilo Schreieck,
Florian Schmidt, Laura Usai
Berkaer Str. 11
Bauhaus-University Weimar
HAVENS
In December 2023, I assembled a group of twelve fellow artists from the faculties of Art & Design, Architecture, and Media at Bauhaus-University Weimar to regularly meet and discuss questions relating to an architecture of personal space under the title HAVENS.
While everyone was working on their works respectively, we developed the exhibition together that took place at Berkaer Str. 11 as well as at A:I:M in early April 2023.
It was accompanied by a program consisting of readings, concerts, and audio performances at A:I:M, an artist talk, and an exchange with the artists of Lebenshilfe e.V.
My role was to structure the process so that everyone felt comfortable and supported to create their work. To ensure this, I organized funding, studio spaces, and the exhibition space.
Additionally, I developed and exhibited the site-specific installation Ingresses ‡ Egresses, and the model Residency.
Our discoursive process did not conclude with the end of the exhibition. At the moment, together with an external graphic designer, we are working on a comprehensive publication that is expected to be released later this year.
photo © David Frommhold
1 Hein Henkel: Bleib stabil
photo © David Frommhold
photo © David Frommhold
2 Till Röttjer: Ingresses ‡ Egresses, 3 Mathias Lorenz: It’s a Living Thing
photo © David Frommhold
2 Till Röttjer: Ingresses ‡ Egresses, 3 Mathias Lorenz: It’s a Living Thing
photo © David Frommhold
3 Mathias Lorenz: It’s a Living Thing
photo © David Frommhold
3 Mathias Lorenz: It’s a Living Thing
photo © David Frommhold
photo © David Frommhold
3 Mathias Lorenz: It’s a Living Thing
photo © David Frommhold
3 Mathias Lorenz: It’s a Living Thing
photo © David Frommhold
3 Mathias Lorenz: It’s a Living Thing
photo © David Frommhold
2 Till Röttjer: Ingresses ‡ Egresses,
4 Eila Boldt: Mein lieber König! Die Milch steht im Kühlschrank! - J.,
5 Eila Boldt: Emergency Supply for 2 People and 2 Cats for 10 Days
photo © David Frommhold
photo © David Frommhold
5 Eila Boldt: Emergency Supply for 2 People and 2 Cats for 10 Days
photo © David Frommhold
photo © David Frommhold
photo © David Frommhold
9 Paula Franke: stoßlüften, 6 Tilo Schreieck: RiffRaff
photo © David Frommhold
9 Paula Franke: stoßlüften
photo © David Frommhold
7 Paul Knopf: You say we should wake up and see the world as it really is. But the world I live in is a parallel universe to yours.
9 Paula Franke: stoßlüften
photo © David Frommhold
9 Paula Franke: stoßlüften
photo © David Frommhold
photo © David Frommhold
10 David Frommhold: Ein Bild von Himmel
photo © David Frommhold
10 David Frommhold: Ein Bild von Himmel,
11 David Frommhold: Geräusch - R225B3
photo © David Frommhold
photo © David Frommhold
11 David Frommhold: Geräusch - R225B3
photo © David Frommhold
8 Paul Knopf: Isn’t it the case that we are all carrier pigeons in some way?
12 Laura Usai: Once a Year
photo © David Frommhold
Exhibition view f.l.t.r.:
10 David Frommhold: Ein Bild von Himmel,
9 Paula Franke: stoßlüften,
11 David Frommhold: Geräusch – R225B3,
8 Paul Knopf: Isn’t it the case that we are all carrier pigeons in some way?
photo © David Frommhold
10 David Frommhold: Ein Bild von Himmel,
9 Paula Franke: stoßlüften,
11 David Frommhold: Geräusch – R225B3,
8 Paul Knopf: Isn’t it the case that we are all carrier pigeons in some way?
photo © David Frommhold
photo © David Frommhold
photo © David Frommhold
photo © David Frommhold
photo © David Frommhold
Hein Henkel
Bleib stabil
2024
250 x 375 x 50 cm
sandbags, construction timber, pine plywood
2
Till Röttjer
Ingresses ‡ Egresses
2024
dimensions variable
drywall, metal substructure, screws, plaster, LED-lights
3
Mathias Lorenz
It’s A Living Thing
2024
terrace tiles, furniture panels, foam material, video screen, fired clay, bricks, sawdust, pine needles
4
Eila Boldt
Mein lieber König! Die Milch steht im Kühlschrank! - J.
2024
digitized film, 12 min
Eila Boldt
Emergency Supply for 2 People and 2 Cats for 10 Days
2024
in two boxes, each 79 x 57 x 43 cm
pasta, rice, vegetables, pulses, fruit, nuts, oat milk, oil, flour, dry yeast,
drinking meal, protein powder, wet cat food, dry cat food, salt, pepper, broth, first aid kit, prescribed medication, painkillers, disinfectant, clinical thermometer, diarrhoea medication, insect repellent, panthenol, hygiene products, candles, lighter, spare batteries, torch, camping cooker, radio, cat litter
as recommended by the Federal Office of
Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance,
supplies to have at home
Tilo Schreieck
RiffRaff
2024
220 x 170 x 45 cm
grey cardboard, chipboard,
fluorescent tubes
7
Paul Knopf
You say we should wake up and see the world as it really is. But the world I live in is a parallel universe to yours.
2024
50 x 60 cm
pencil on paper
8
Paul Knopf
Isn’t it the case that we are all carrier pigeons in some way?
2024
38 x 37 x 50 cm
cardboard, tape, plaster, silk, cotton, jeans, spray paint, crayons
Paula Franke
stoßlüften
2024
dimensions variable
audiopiece using motion tracking
10
David Frommhold
Ein Bild von Himmel
2024
349 x 587 cm
99 inkjet prints
11
David Frommhold
Geräusch – R225B3
2024
125 x 175 cm
silver gelatin print, eyelets, hand smithened steel nails
12
Laura Usai
Once a Year
2024
video (4:05 min)
portable DVD player, wood, metal, screws
Florian Schmidt
The Introvert
2024
84 x 60 x 4 cm
acrylic, vinyl, cardboard, wood
14
Till Röttjer
Residency
2024-Ongoing
145 x 50 x 60 cm
model building cardboard, duct tape, wood glue, branches, screws, orange foil
photo © David Frommhold
photo © David Frommhold
Where will it go?
2023, ongoing
80 cm x 130 cm x 50 cm
cardboard, metal, plastic, wood
Die zwei Sonderzeichen und das Sommerferienabenteuer
2024
15:00 min
audio play
Sadie
2022
08:13 min
audio piece
Strokes of Gusts
2022
14:32 min
sound composition
Beyond Body
2022
11:20 min
sound composition
20:00 – 22:00: Live-Performance by Laura Usai and Coretta Klaue
Location: »A:I:M«, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 11
17:00: Live-Performance »Sadie« by Coretta Klaue
Location: »A:I:M«, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 11
14:00 and 16:00: Live-Performance by Laura Usai
Location: »A:I:M«, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 11
16:00: Artist-Talk
Location: nova space, Berkaer Straße 11
Who or what is protected from what? Who is free in which space and why? Do all people have this opportunity?
We can only answer these questions together.
Ingresses ‡ Egresses by Till Röttjer can be understood as a walkable sculpture that both breaks with and responds to the existing spatial situation. Within the context of the exhibition, it adds a new layer that alters the narratives of the given situations. The resulting spatial installation can be viewed as both a connection ‡ distance between the adjacent exhibition situation as well as an independent spatial experience. The work builds upon the concept of the walkable sculpture An Introspective Monument, which is visible at Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 11. Ingresses ‡ Egresses can be seen as a rhizomatic outpost, which here is to be interpreted as a commentary in the sense of an ongoing process and interpolation of personal architectures.
It’s a Living Thing by Mathias Lorenz is an installation that deals with the theme of habitation. For him habitation is, next to basic needs, also about aesthetic or intellectual worlds. Based on his specific living situation in Weimar, he processes the relationship to the outside world, color, material, inner reflection and habit.
Emergency Supply for 2 People and 2 Cats for 10 Days by Eila Boldt is inspired by an episode of the German talkshow „Fakt ist“: „Aufrüsten und Abschrecken. Rückkehr in den Kalten Krieg?” (engl. Arm and Deter: Back to the Cold War?). The two plastic storage boxes serve as both an emergency supply as suggested by the Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe (engl. Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance) and a documentation of gathering thereof.
The video Mein lieber König! Die Milch steht im Kühlschrank! - J. made from inhereted home videos, shows Boldt’s grandparents when they were in a similar age. How did life feel for them back then? How often and how much has life changed for them? How often does our perception of being alive shift?
RiffRaff by Tilo Schreieck draws inspiration from the visual language of advertising technology. Fluorescent tubes, reminiscent of those found in everyday hardware stores, illuminate a billboard-like structure—yet rather than presenting a static slogan, the installation undulates like waves. This shifting form explores themes of repetition, uniformity, delay, and a subtle sense of security. Through a rhythmic interplay of light and shadow, RiffRaff transforms a utilitarian medium into a poetic gesture—an attempt to elevate the mundane and create a personal haven within the aesthetics of the everyday.
The two works You say we should wake up and see the world as it really is. But the world I live in is a parallel universe to yours. and Isn’t it the case that we are all carrier pigeons in some way? by Paul Knopf are transplants of An Introspective Monument (A:I:M), which was built into the left part of the Halle on the campus of the Bauhaus-University Weimar by Till Röttjer. It is an interior within the interior and can only be experienced halfway from the outside. Thus, the viewer is encouraged to venture inside the monument. My works invert the A:I:M. On the one hand, they understand its inner dimensions as an outside, and on the other hand, as collapsing into a plane. However, I do not understand them as reproductions or models. Neither am I interested in looking for monumentality in space nor size, but rather in itself as heaviness. I don't understand introspection as an abstract retrieval into oneself but as a way of dealing with a counterpart. In this way, it becomes a projection from a distance. Closeness thus only arises through physicality and materiality, through what something weighs, through what is brought along, and memory.
stoßlüften by Paula Franke is the documentation of a dance experience Paula had.
Ein Bild von Himmel by David Frommhold is a work that evolved in reference to the regular planning meetings and discussions with the participating artists prior to the exhibition project HAVENS. Consisting of 99 inkjet prints depicting Himmel, installed in a grid pattern on the ceiling of the exhibition space, it reflects the ongoing, cohesive, merging process of this group coming together. Within the sociotope of the exhibition, the installation is located within a topology of (in)visible interconnectedness, solidarity, constellation, and occupies a site-specific niche.
Geräusch – R225B3 by David Frommhold is part of an ongoing series of archival works that mostly react to his subjectively genuine perception of the world. They reflect his dynamic self-understanding in the twilight of random dispersion and contemplative collection.
Definition: The 'Geräusch' is a term of the german hunting language. It defines a part of the viscera and stands in the language of hunters for the lungs, heart, liver, and kidneys of game animals. The 'Geräusch' is part of all the innards of the game. The 'Geräusch', as a so-called 'kleines Jägerrecht', belongs to the one who guts the animal, i.e., disembowels it.
In Once a Year Laura Usai delves into her personal definition of a shelter. Shot spontaneously at a Valencia playground, the video captures how the space transforms into a shelter through the presence of people, becoming a haven before losing this quality again.
Notable individuals featured are Theresa Dietrich, Marthe Streubel, Vivien Butschke, Lukas Gebhardt, Lina Rathsack, Eleonora Haas, and Mathilda Ehresmann.
The Introvert by Florian Schmidt is part of a series of works that use images of exhibition spaces, buildings, and art institutions as references. The images often show the area of the building that is inhabited by the public (exterior facade / stairwells / windows
/ ceilings / niches). In a multi-layered process, these images are transformed into reduced line drawings (spaces between the cardboard form), in which the experienced architecture is transferred back into a kind of architectural drawing.
At first glance, his works appear inconspicuous. But if the viewer opens up to the experience of their creation process, they prove to be an experimental exploration of medial, spatial, and formal questions and offer impressive viewing opporunities: The interplay of surface and spatial depth and the harmony of colours and forms invite us to reflect on the boundaries and definitions of drawing, painting, sculpture, and architecture.
Residency by Till Röttjer is based on an artificial concept for a possible "total installation" in an outdoor area. The model shows the design of an architecture that can be integrated into existing outdoor and park areas, but at the same time extends and comments on them. This architecture is intended to serve as a working, living, and exhibition space for several people. Polyhedral modules made of wood are arranged around a central garden. Even so, the overall structure is characterized by an open and flowing space. The model-like installation is intended to form a basis for further elaboration and an exchange with the users.
During the exhibition period of HAVENS, it will be revitalized by the performative electro-acoustic compositions of Coretta Klaue and Laura Usai.
Within electroacoustics, Coretta Klaue deals with the audible perception of space and movement, as well as psychoacoustic phenomena, in order to express experiences of different levels of consciousness. Synthetically generated sounds and recorded sound material from everyday places and nature combine with frequencies of the body's own voice to create worlds that can be experienced auditorily.
In a world that functions according to the rules of time and performance pressure, we learn to satisfy a primal human need for security through speed and self-optimization. Death and thus the end of our "safe" life seems to receive little attention in our way of life.
Women who are socialized in this society learn to avoid feelings of grief and pain with strategies of "smiling away". Even the honest expression of needs and boundaries is a predominantly shame-ridden terrain from a female perspective. Sadie, an audio piece about the character of the same name, reveals in her eight-minute monologue how she learned to fulfill and perfect her social role as a woman and the expectations attached to it. She reports in a pressed, theatrical tone what it means "not to know the difference between suffering and pleasure, between sacrifice and devotion, (...) between heteronomy and self-determination“.
The fun Manuel Hartmann had building models resulted in his largest work, Where will it go?, to date in the form of a spaceship. This led to a thematic exploration that is also relevant in the context of Havens. Space travel is a polarising topic. On the one hand, it is the content of global supranational research cooperation and one of many developments that have contributed to the fact that we can live the way we do right now. On the other hand, space travel is a newly developed area of global turbo-capitalism and symbolises human megalomania and the consequences associated with it.
Supported by:
soletti