Learning to dwell otherwise within the ruins
Duo exhibition featuring Vermeir & Heiremans and Julia Cremers & Parallax Lab at after the butcher, exhibition space for contemporary art & social issues, Berlin
19/03 – 25/04/2021
Spittastrasse 25
10317 Berlin
Vermeir & Heiremans present their work A Modest Proposal (in a Black Box) alongside a publication which brings together a series of essays that were presented in a symposium organised by Vermeir & Heiremans at the Royal College of Art, London in 2018.
A Modest Proposal (in a Black Box) investigates if ‘financialisation’ can be repurposed as a tool to create more equitable conditions. The artists propose a model to financialise public art collections, museum real estate and/or their symbolic capital. This model is designed to create a cycle of wealth that will benefit not only investors and institutions, but also the creators of these values, the original stake-holders—the artists and art workers.
In the film, the artists discuss a proposal with their lawyer to financialise a specific building as study case: Pump House Gallery in Battersea Park, London. The gallery is located in the vicinity of the Battersea Power Station, a mid-20th century former coal-fired power station, currently being redeveloped into a luxury shopping mall, and surrounded by high-end apartments designed by ‘starchitects’ like Frank Gehry, Foster & Partners, etc. The rising real estate values that surround the gallery will ‘pump up’ the building’s value as a commercial asset. Introducing this into the artists’ global financial model will distribute surplus values for the wider art community.
after the butcher, exhibition space for contemporary art and social issues is run by the artist Thomas Kilpper together with Franziska Böhmer since 2006 in their house, a former butcher’s shop, and since 2015 in collaboration with the artist Ina Wudtke. after the butcher is a project space by artists for artists. Those invited for an exhibition are asked to develop a project for this room. The exhibition space should offer young or less well-known artists in combination with more established positions an opportunity and platform to present their work in a non-commercial setting. Of particular interest are artistic strategies that reflect social issues and social contradictions.
In order to visit the exhibition, it is advised to contact the gallery as access is limited due to corona measures.