ambivalence of dawn – on the principle of promise

Curated by Nicolas Kerksieck

The exhibition spans an arc between the social and technological utopias of the 1960s and their reception and implications today. In the mirror of contemporary art, the question is posed as to what role utopias and visions play today and how they are applied in social discourse with regard to a possible future. The euphoria of what is technologically feasible, which prevailed after the first moon landing, for example, has now given way to skepticism towards major visionary events. Those seemingly glorious promises brought with them too many side effects, disruptions and irredeemability. An important characteristic of the present day is the recognition of the complexity and ambivalence of events. The belief in an all-valid utopia, in an unquestioned rightness – be it of a religious, political or technological nature – seems far more difficult to accept today. For this reason, the exhibition is timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle and the Chernobyl reactor disaster.

ambivalence of dawn – of the principle of promise shows artistic positions that carry such visionary promises within them or document them, such as the work "Futuro – a new stance for tomorrow" by Mika Taanila. The Finnish artist documents the Futuro Homes designed and built by Matti Suuronen, which embody a visionary step towards encapsulated living in an aerodynamic spaceship-like design and thus reflect a lifestyle of the 1960s. Konrad Zuse, the inventor and builder of the first functional computer, painted pictures whose dynamism and expressiveness illustrate his personal vision of future urban living. The young Basel artist Manuel Schneider shows apparatuses that seem to illustrate scientific findings, but defy any rational accessibility and thus also give space to that feeling of ambivalence and uncertainty. The exhibition explores the promise and its driving forces, but also traces the limits of these new beginnings in a direct reference to the present day.