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Hartware MedienKunstVerein (HMKV) presents three monographic exhibitions

Hartware MedienKunstVerein presents three exhibitions at Dortmunder U on view 21 April–22 July 2012.

Two of these exhibitions are concerned with similar issues: HEXEN 2.0 by the British artist Suzanne Treister and History has left the Building by the German artist Francis Hunger deal with the hopes and utopias or dystopias inspired by technological developments in the 20th century, while analysing their social impact and role as catalysts of social and economic processes in different political systems. Both artists use artistic narratives to undertake a media-archaeological investigation, telling stories from the age of information technology and presenting often unheard-of and unseen artefacts in the shape of complex drawings and diagrams (Treister) or installations, audio plays, videos, and performances (Hunger).

In the framework of the cultural exchange programme Klopsztanga. Polen grenzenlos NRW, the HMKV also presents Democracies, a work by the Polish artist Artur Żmijewski. In this 25-channel video installation, Żmijewski documents various expressions of opinion in public space. The images are left uncommented and shown next to each other without hierarchy or judgement. For the artist, these sometimes extreme and anachronistic rituals of democratic public expression represent the darker side of society, something that has to be tolerated and continually renegotiated in an attempt to reach a public consensus. Żmijewskiʼs videos show images of people gathering at manifestations, football games, burials, historic re-enactments and military parades. In the exhibition space, the live soundtracks of the various videos merge into a cacophonic soundscape. For the presentation at HMKV, the artist has edited further footage, thus creating the most extensive version so far of this work, for which he started filming in 2009. The exhibition runs parallel to the 7th Berlin Biennale, which is curated by Żmijewski.

During the exhibition, HMKV and the RWE Forum | U Cinema will show Between Us, a programme with Polish experimental and documentary short films curated by Katrin Mundt. The spectrum of the programme extends from experimental films of the neo-avant-garde of the 1970s to classics of video art of the 1980s and contemporary works.

On the occasion of Francis Hunger’s exhibition History has left the Building, a catalogue with numerous high-quality reproductions, an essay by Inke Arns, and work descriptions will be published by Spector Books Leipzig in June 2012.

Parallel to the exhibition, the HMKV will present a programme of artists’ talks, workshops, book launch, performances and film screenings within the exhibition.

For opening hours during bank holidays visit: www.dortmunder-u.de

Dortmunder U – Zentrum für Kunst und Kreativität
(Centre for Art and Creativity), 3rd floor
Leonie-Reygers-Terrasse
44137 Dortmund, Germany
[email protected]
www.hmkv.de

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