Wed, Jul 17 2013Photo: Edizioni Periferia.
Last week we received a copy of the wonderful publication by Zürich-based artists Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller, with whom we have collaborated twice in the past, on the Portscapes commission series in 2009 (see photos of project here and a 'making of' video here) and on their solo exhibition 'United Alternative Energies' in 2011 in Kunsthal Århus, Denmark. Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller maintain the thesis that throughout history, culture and energy have been reciprocal entities: technological change determines cultural achievements and vice versa. Title page with contributors names. This and the following photos: Latitudes.
Their publication "A Chronology of Energy-Related Developments (2013, ongoing)" is based on the appendix of the six-volume "Encyclopedia of Energy" (2004). Its 64-page appendix sums up historical events of relevance to energy since the existence of Earth. In collaboration with 32 art historians (including Steven Jacobs, Andreas Vogel, Dorothee Messmer), curators (including Fiona Parry, Pedro de Llano and ourselves) and cultural theorists (including Yvonne Volkart, Anke Hoffmann, Rolf-Peter Sieferle) and concluding with an epilogue by Bice Curiger, former Kunsthaus Zürich's curator, the artists have supplemented the appendix (white pages) with «art-related» entries (yellow pages) in words and pictures.
Latitudes contributed six entries, those of 1901 (Giacomo Balla's "Street Light"), 1956 (Atsuko Tanaka's "Electric Dress"), two entries for 1972 (Victor Grippo's "Energy of a Potato" and Gustav Metzger's "Project for Stockholm (phase 1)", ca. 1987 (Fischli & Weiss's "The Way Things Go") and 2003 (Simon Starling's "Tabernas Desert Run").The book was made possible by a Dr. Georg und Josi Guggenheim-Stiftung 2012 grant.
Christina Hemauer & Roman Keller
182 pages, 20 x 27 cm, in two colours, linen binding
Edizioni Periferia
ISBN: 978-3-906016-24-5
CHF 38 / EUR 30Purchase here.
This is the blog of the independent curatorial office Latitudes. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter. All photos: Latitudes (except when noted otherwise in the photo caption) Sun, Jan 23 2011Above and below: Installation view. Photo: Jens Møller Sørensen. Courtesy the artists.
—> Slideshow of the publication.—> Slideshow of the exhibition.
The exhibition 'Christina Hemauer | Roman Keller: United Alternative Energies', is the most comprehensive exhibition of the Swiss duo's work to date, presenting ten works of which four are new productions.
Hemauer | Keller has investigated the concept of energy for several years. One of their main areas of interest is the history of oil and its competing alternatives, notably solar energy. Often involving historical research, remembrance, performance and film, their projects focus in particular on the politics of oil, energy crises, and the pursuit of new technology. (+ info...)
A 36 full-colour page booklet can be purchased from the Århus Art Building for 35 DKK (aprox. €4,70). Exhibition remains on view until 3 April 2011.
Photos and texts accompanying images: Latitudes | www.lttds.org Fri, Oct 30 2009 Taken by the artists on the 30th October 2009. 'Postpetrolistic Internationale', the project by Zurich-based artists Christina Hemauer (1973) & Roman Keller (1969), started today with the transportation of a wooden stage along the Rhine from Basel (the most upriver navigable point of the Rhine), near the artists’ home, to Rotterdam (where the Rhine joins the sea).
Keller & Hemauer's project emerges from the medium of the collective human voice, the tradition of the aspirational social anthem alongside the artists’ long standing interest in energy use. Upon arrival of the stage, a Rotterdam-based choir will perform the 'Postpetrolistic Internationale', an anthem of hope-in-action on the stage, against a backdrop of local industry, to mark man’s changing relationship with fossil fuels and energy use.
Programmed performances:Saturday 7 November, time TBC, Maritime Museum, Rotterdam – MAP
Sunday 8 November, 13.30h, Futureland, the Maasvlakte 2 visitor center – MAPThe 'Postpetrolism' project (2006-ongoing) was launched with a performance in Zürich in April 2006 in which a new manifesto of hope for the future reality of energy was declared and a plaque erected to mark the end of one energy era (‘peak oil’ was passed in 2005, according to Kenneth S. Deffeyes) and the beginning of another beyond oil.
Images of the journey and arrival of the stage to Rotterdam's port on 2nd November: Taken by the artists en route and upon arrival to Rotterdam's port.
Keller & Hemauer's project is part of 'Portscapes', a series of art projects commissioned by the Port of Rotterdam Authority with advice and financial support from SKOR (Foundation for Art and Public Space, Amterdam) and curated by Latitudes.
Portscapes' timeline: http://www.dipity.com/latitudes/PORTSCAPES
Keller and Hemauer's participation has been made possible thanks to the support of Pro Helvetia. 
