Art and About - artistic research in Spreepark

Art and About - artistic Research at Spreepark

Art and About addressed the artistic process and presented works by Marcus Maeder, Sabine Scho, Sissel Tolaas and Annett Zinsmeister, which were created in the context of research residencies for Spreepark. Installations, scenic readings, workshops, and tours provided insights into artistic research at various stations in the park on April 30, 2023.

Marcus Maeder, Speculative Botany

Marcus Maeder's work is a fusion of art and science. His "Speculative Botany" addresses artistic counter-theses to invasion biology, and develops a plant science fiction that develops new relationships between humans and neophytes in urban spaces.

At several kiosks and pavilions in the park, Maeder exhibited posters with photos accompanied by texts which he produced during his Spreepark research residency. Maeder also addressed the wide range of different noises that can be heard in Spreepark. Visitors could be listened to the sounds of the Spreepark at one of the pavilions on site, or online at Spreepark Radio.

Sabine Scho und Julian Paschen, Spreepark - Musik für ein stillgestelltes Karussell

The writer Sabine Scho is also a photographer. Over several months, she observed the current process-like changes in Spreepark together with Matthias Holtmann, and then transferred this web of relationships between people, animals and plants to artistic flag formats. For example, she developed a flag installation that addresses the entertainment value of the colours in Spreepark, its flora and fauna, and the deserted amusement rides.

Her work also includes poems and short texts that belong to the literary genre of nature writing. In her latest text, she addressed the question of fairground ride music, and the amusement park soundscape. Her reading was musically accompanied by a set presented by Julian Paschen, that was inspired by a dance floor and established a connection with the rotating cups of the tea cup ride.

Sissel Tolaas, Sinking IN_formation

During her research residency, Sissel Tolaas examined the smells of Spreepark. Tolaas believes that smells stimulate our cognitive recall, evoke memories, lead to emotional reactions, define places. Since 1990, the artist and olfactory researcher has worked on the creation of an archive of smells with molecules from all over the world.

Sissel Tolaas took the visitors on an olfactory tour of the park. Spreepark's smells in the depths of the artificial lakes and layers of mud, algae and moss over the many years of changes have also been archived and are now being recorded and examined by Tolaas . In this way, she is mapping the smells of Spreepark.

Annett Zinsmeister, MERO VISION Exp.

The installation MERO VISION Exp. is based on the modular MERO spatial system of the Mero Hall at Spreepark and on a photographic documentation that the artist developed as a search for traces during her 2021/22 research residency at Spreepark. The artist and architect visually disassembled this strictly modular spatial framework on various levels and reassembled it in numerous variants by means of experimental test series.

The Mero-Hall not only functions as the actual location but also supplied the material for the visual and mental building blocks which the artist uses to design new perspectives of fictitious spaces. She plays with our perception at the place where spatial facts and visual fiction meet; it is a play between inside and outside, top and bottom, planes and depth.

The installation MERO VISION Exp. was on view at Spreepark from April 30 to May 30, 2023.

Programme

Sunday, 30.4.2023, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

10:00-18:00                Installations: Marcus Maeder, Sabine Scho + Matthias Holtmann and Annett Zinsmeister

11:00-13:00                Matinee: Annett Zinsmeister, MERO VISION Exp., Venue: Mero Hall

13:00-17:00                Drop-in workshop: Cyanotype for children, teens and adults, Venue: Mero Hall

13:00-14:00                Olfactory tour: Sissel Tolaas, Sinking IN_formation, Meeting point: Mero Hall

15:00-16:00                Staged reading accompanied by music: Sabine Scho and Julian Paschen, Spreepark - Music for an Abandoned Merry-go-round, Venue: Tea cup ride