Here, some serious thought is given to the impossible. Driven by curiosity, things are researched, discovered, tested and dismissed. The artistic works presented in Things we discover alone venture beyond the realm of habitual ways of thinking – they experiment, concoct, exaggerate and explore the outer limits of that which is considered possible. The exhibition invites us to travel along these paths of self-discovery. In the ideal case, after visiting it we will have been given the opportunity to find ourselves within patterns of thought and action that lie outside of our everyday experience.
The countless questions Peter Fischli and David Weiss ask of life and the universe seep into our thoughts. They pave the way towards letting go of our own thoughts, at least for as long as we are visiting the exhibition. John Baldessari tries to teach a plant the alphabet, Lisa Domin learns tap dancing with the aid of Youtube tutorials, and Christian Jankowski enables museum personnel to try out other professions for a while. Karen Winzer learns new skills which she then passes on to others, and Bernd Krauß turns the hobby into a profession: hobbyist-as-professional as he calls it, and builds a new installation on the theme of self-experience and everyday life. Moira Zoitl’s installation “Gerüst/antiautoritär” (Frame/anti-authoritarian) is the GfZK collection’s newest acquisition. It focuses on the kindergarten run by the artist’s own parents in the 1970s, along with the effects it had on the life and learning experiences of the child and the artist.
The exhibition display, made up of huge building bricks, invites us to play and to create new constellations. Visitors are encouraged to write their own texts inspired by the works of art, recording their thoughts and associations which they can then leave at the exhibition for others to read. In a workshop, various objects are built using spare parts. Presentation and discussion evenings are held introducing autodidactic projects and initiatives from Leipzig and Berlin. The film programme also refers to the topicality and everlasting curiosity involved in the search for new ways of learning and experiencing.
