Call me Ornamental 2

The second round of our Call me Ornament-exhibition starts on 21.04.2023 with an expanded group of exhibitors. The three-part exhibition is inspired by artists such as Alfons Mucha or Henry van der Velde, whose life’s work spanned the most diverse genres of design. They saw their environment as a scenery of life; a pragmatic programme with requirements already set, for which the best applies, namely an aesthetic pushed to the maximum.

These ambitious projects dedicated to aesthetics were and are constantly suspected of being superficial. It was already known that in the times of aesthetic dryness and reduction of the visible superfluous, an empty surface can also mean an empty interior – that the unclear intensity of life experiences seems to be missing.

The collections of ornaments and models presented in the exhibition “Call me Ornament” relied on the concept of resonance as a basic yearning for a world answering to such desire. Here, the way life was experienced during Romanticism is revisited, that is an individual, introspective experience of life, as well as a moving out into the world so to speak, allowing to find one’s true home.

At the heart of this “feeling” of home appears a complete, differentiated sort of attention toward the world, which finds its point of departure in the sensual. Aesthetic formations always start with a feeling of sensuality, becoming first the centre of attention and out of which develops a certain playful relationship with the possible available significations: the sensuous activity will turn into a sensual figuration. Whether, as Dostojewski wrote, “the beauty redeems the world” remains to be seen, the fact that art and aesthetics are becoming a starting point for new visions of the future is something that even the “digital natives” are currently noticing. The sensuous perception, the moving of the soul, the joy experienced at the beauty of gardens and places, the peacefulness, and the contemplative gaze permit the appearance of new forms of fellowship, which in turn allow the development of new solutions.

Participating Artists:

Joshua Kerley, Jojo Corväia, Maxime Louis-Courcier, Lucia Massari, Estelle Bourdet, Josefin Eklund, Arno Hoogland, Théophile Blandet, Studio Melli, Jonas Lutz, Katrien Mestdagh, Manuel Canu, Jan Hooss, Zaratea Gården Hurtig, Kristine Mandsberg, Christopher Riggio, Laurin Schaub, Sarah Schrof, Thijmen van der Steen, Joseph Töreki, Kreadiano, Zuber & Salzmann

3rd floor: Frank Pressentin, Teresa Gruber, Jürgen Eichler, Claudia Biehne, Klaus Kirchner, Niruk, Pernille Braun, Naama Haneman, Camilla Bliss, Horst Kontak, Edu Tarin, Martin Schatz, Joseph Pintz