MWFK

“Stumbling and Clearing: An Experiment in the Forest” Works by Sven Gatter and Judith Zander

Tobias Dünow, State Secretary for Culture, opened the exhibition today at the Ministry of Culture in Potsdam: “Stumbling and Clearing: A Forest Experiment,” featuring works by Sven Gatter and Judith Zander, at the Ministry of Culture in Potsdam today to mark the centennial of the birth of the Brandenburg poet Günter de Bruyn:

“An experiment is something that is allowed to fail—in research, this is called a method; in art, an attitude. Sven Gatter and Judith Zander direct our gaze toward the inconspicuous: toward tree forks, leaf formations, the poetry of the random. Their photographs and texts prove nothing, solve no problems, serve no purpose—and it is precisely in this that their freedom and value lie.

In a world that is becoming ever faster, more technologically advanced, and in greater need of explanation, the beauty of the seemingly useless is an act of resistance. The “Abseits” fellowship, awarded for the first time by the Günter de Bruyn Foundation, sends a bold message: not visibility at any cost, but distance as a prerequisite for a different, more critical view of the world. For sometimes what is essential begins where we stray from the path—and stumbling precedes the light.”