Mondes inventés, Mondes habités

In Mondes inventés, Mondes habités („Erdachte Welten, Bewohnte Welten”) werden verschiedene und einzigartige künstlerische Universen vorgestellt, deren Schöpfer sich als Denker, als Ingenieure oder als Architekten mit den Kräften und der Dynamik auseinandersetzen, die unsere Welt bestimmen und die sie in Bewegung halten. Mit einem ebenso feinen Gespür für die Mechanik der Welt und ihre potentiellen Energiezentren, wie für die diese Welt belebenden und bestimmenden Gedankenströme gehen sie in ihrer Arbeit Fragen wissenschaftlicher aber auch metaphysischer Ordnung an. Die Werke von oftmals großer Komplexität lassen so die Schönheit der in ihnen wirkenden Kräfte sichtbar werden, wie bei Conrad Shawcross oder Miguel Palma, oder sie lassen sich, wie die „Brücken” von Chris Burden von Meisterwerken der Ingenieurskunst inspirieren. Andere, wie Isa Melsheimer, interessieren sich für Architektur als Möglichkeit, den Raum zu erkunden, und unsere Vorstellungen von ihm, wie auch seine Unbeständigkeit zu hinterfragen. Und schließlich sind da noch Künstler wie David Altmejd, deren spielerischer Umgang mit mineralischem oder organischem Material neue, fantastische Welten erschafft.

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The technical object cannot be dissociated from human history, but the relationship between the two remains complex. As a synonym of progress, in Western eyes, the technical object is at once desired and suspect, arousing by turns hope, wonder and disillusion.

The exhibition Mondes inventés, Mondes habités ("Invented worlds, Inhabited worlds") broaches the issue of technology transcended by artistic genius. It highlights the special relationship of creative people, those "technical poets" who, rather than restricting themselves to the utilitarian aspect, base their research on an understanding of existence and the beauty of machines. Through the works of some twenty artists of different generations and with different outlooks, the exhibition offers glimpses of the capacity for invention and wonder, daring and curiosity, hallmarking the human and artistic adventure.

The exhibition focuses first and foremost on the specific figure of the inventor and the imagination, which fuels his research. A whole mythology has in fact developed down the centuries around the artist-cum-inventor, whose guardian figure is indisputably Leonardo da Vinci, an artistic and visionary genius if ever there was, as much an architect and engineer as a painter and musician. The second part of the show underscores the beauty of experience and the accomplishment of forms resulting from the observation and understanding of physical phenomena or natural forces.

The third part extends the boundaries of our world and the perception we may have of it. Here the artists appropriate that part of the dream intrinsic to the discovery and exploration of worlds, but also to the understanding of the living which scientific and technological advances have made possible by making them visible. The fourth and final part of the exhibition mainly includes artistic representations of worlds organized by human activity.

Mondes inventés, Mondes habités is curated by Marie-Noëlle Farcy and Clément Minighetti, who, according to Mudam's program of commissions, invited English artist Conrad Shawcross to design an installation specifically for the museum's most spectacular space, the Grand Hall. Entitled The Nervous Systems (Inverted), Shawcross' work is on show until May 6, 2012.

The exhibition is organized with the support of Kurt Salmon.

Artists: David Altmejd, Chris Burden, Vija Celmins, Björn Dahlem, León Ferrari, Vincent Ganivet, Paul Granjon, Theo Jansen, Bodys Isek Kingelez, Paul Laffoley, Isa Melsheimer, Miguel Palma, Panamarenko, Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison, Nancy Rubins, Conrad Shawcross, Roman Signer, Jan Švankmajer

Curators: Marie-Noëlle Farcy, Clément Minighetti

Mondes inventés, Mondes habités
Kuratoren: Marie-Noelle Farcy, Clement Minighetti

Künstler: David Altmejd, Chris Burden, Vija Celmins, Björn Dahlem, Leon Ferrari, Vincent Ganivet, Paul Granjon, Theo Jansen, Bodys Isek Kingelez, Paul Laffoley, Isa Melsheimer, Miguel Palma, Panamarenko , Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison , Nancy Rubins, Conrad Shawcross, Roman Signer, Jan Svankmajer