ART CITIES:Venice-Machines À Penser
During the Venice Architecture Biennale, Fondazione Prada presents “Machines à penser”, an exhibition that focuses on three 20th Century philosophers: Theodor W. Adorno, Martin Heidegger and Ludwig Wittgenstein. The exhibition explores the influence of these protagonists as they relate to the conditions of exile, escape and retreat, as well as physical or mental spaces that favor thought and intellectual production.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Fondazione Prada Archive
Martin Heidegger and Ludwig Wittgenstein shared a life-long need for intellectual isolation: Heidegger spent long periods of his life in a secluded hut in the village of Todtnauberg in the Black Forest in Germany, whilst Wittgenstein retreated on several occasions to a small mountain cabin situated in a fjord in Skjolden, Norway. Theodor W. Adorno, on the other hand, was forced into exile from Germany during by the Nazi regime, first to Oxford and then to Los Angeles, where he wrote “Minima Moralia” a collection of aphorisms that also reflects on the fate of forced emigration. Alongside architectural reconstructions of the actual huts of Heidegger and Wittgenstein, the centerpiece of the exhibition is the installation conceived by Ian Hamilton Finlay, “Adorno’s hut” (1987). Adorno is the protagonist of the first part of the exhibit, in which his American exile is recalled through a large-scale reproduction of a photograph by Patrick Lakey showcasing the interior of Villa Aurora in Los Angeles. The fate of forced retreat is explored through the work of artists such as Susan Philipsz, Ewan Telford, Patrick Lakey, Anselm Kiefer and Alexander Kluge. On the first floor Martin Heidegger’s Black Forest cabin is evoked through a remake that contains, among other works, a series of personal photographs by Digne Meller-Marcovicz and a set of ceramic pieces by Jan Bontjes van Beek. Contemporary work by artists such as Giulio Paolini, Sophie Nys, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle and Paolo Chiasera chart the long shadow cast by Heidegger’s thought across philosophies of building, dwelling and belonging. Inside the reconstruction of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s small house in Skjolden, Norway, the viewer encounters “Head of a Girl” (1925-28), the only artwork known to have been made by the philosopher, shown here alongside his personal belongings. Wittgenstein’s self-imposed exile and lifelong quest for philosophical peace of mind form the subject of artworks created by a Norwegian artist collective comprised of Sebastian Makonnen Kjølaas, Marianne Bredesen and Siri Hjorth; Jeremy Millar; and Guy Moreton. A newly commissioned work by Leonor Antunes and a sculpture by Mark Manders are also featured in the exhibition. Goshka Macuga designed three sculptures for the exhibition depicting the heads of the three philosophers, Mark Riley presents three dioramas and Gerhard Richter exhibits overpainted photographs of Engadin mountainscapes. The exhibition also includes a historical section focusing on Church father Saint Jerome (347-419), famous for leading the life of an anchorite in the Syrian desert while translating the Bible into Latin. Renaissance paintings and prints dedicated to the iconography of the saint are exhibited alongside a Renaissance studiolo containing, among other items, first editions of Heidegger and Wittgenstein’s writings, its outer walls clad in a site-specific installation by Alec Finlay titled “Hutopia” (2018).
Info: Curator: Dieter Roelstraete, Fondazione Prada, Ca’ Corner della Regina, Calle de Ca’ Corner, Santa Croce 2215, Venice, Duration: 26/5-26/11/18, Days & Hours: Mon & Wed-Sun 10:00-18:00, www.fondazioneprada.org
