Exhibitions: Daniel Salomon, Helene Sommer, Dubravka Sekulic and Eunjung Hwang

Daniel Salomon
»Mono«

Since 2003, Daniel Salomon has been using the constructed international language Esperanto as a starting point for his projects. At the Akademie, he shows his work »Mono« (Esperanto for »money«), a new international currency connected to neither country not territory. Its slogan, »Unu Mondo, Unu Lingvo, Unu Mono« (one world, one language, one currency), clarifies the demands on a new world currency: Next to Esperanto as a practical and fair tool for international communication, Mono strives to be a practical and fair exchange medium for international exchange, which stands for a world free of boundaries and unfair economic playing rules.

Above and beyond this sketch of a global utopia, the project reflects the problematic nature of the societal compact on which the concept of money is built, as well as concepts of the value of originality in art. In order to prevent counterfeits, Mono bills are printed on special paper, numbered and watermarked.

The project is sponsored by the Danish Arts Council Committee for Visual Arts, Akademie Schloss Solitude and ARCUS project.

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Helene Sommer
»Travelogue of an Unknown City (2007-2009)«

»Travelogue of an Unknown City (2007-2009)« is a video montage consisting of video, photo and audio material from various countries that Helene Sommer collected over the years. The artist combined the images with narrative fragments from various sources. The identity of the locations always stays unclear, the boundaries between the countries blur. New countries and stories are created from the perspective of the other – the tourist.

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Dubravka Sekulic
»Case Study: Russian Pavilions, Belgrade 2001«

The so-called Russian pavilions are low-quality 1950s one- to two-storey buildings in the working-class Belgrade suburb of Karaburma. Since 2001, more than 30 of these buildings have been expanded through attic superstructures. These constructions represent the largest informal construction project in Belgrade. Sekulic’s research work explores applied structural elements and principles in connection with social elements, so they can be recast into architecture. To understand the cultural patterns and the effects that lead to this kind of construction, Sekulic interviewed residents of the old and new portions of the building.

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Eunjung Hwang
»Future Creatures«

»Future Creatures« is a series of experimental animations that explore the character of cryptic images and the world of dreams and the subconscious. The goal is to bring out visionary narrations, inspired by the illusion of fragmentary realities, and assemble them into a usable image catalog. The emerging kaleidoscopic image develops its own symbolism. The central elements of animation are characters that come from images of the dream world and the subconscious. They are iconographies of a mystical reality and have a pictorial and mysterious character. The animation’s narrative structure is more like a rhythmic structure than a legible story.

Accompanying the exhibition opening is the performance »Qalandya Refugee Camp: Seven Scenes in the Study of Fear« by Canadian author Jonathan Garfinkel and by the Russian-Lithuanian musician, composer and sound artist Vladimir Tarasov.

The exhibition is on view from Friday, March 20, 2009 to Sunday, May 3, 2009
Hours: Tues-Thurs 10am-noon & 2–5:30pm, Fri 10am-noon & 2-4pm, Sat–Sun noon–5:30pm