Nina Beier, Formafantasma, Pauline Julier, Izidora I Lethe, Ceylan Öztrük, Gina Proenza

Hyle¹   

Project Info

  • 💙 Kunsthalle Bielefeld
  • 💚 Kristina Grigorjeva, Undine Rietz
  • 🖤 Nina Beier, Formafantasma, Pauline Julier, Izidora I Lethe, Ceylan Öztrük, Gina Proenza
  • 💜 Undine Rietz and Kristina Grigorjeva
  • 💛 Philipp Ottendoerfer

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Installation view "Hyle”, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp
	Ottendoerfer
Installation view "Hyle”, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp
 Ottendoerfer
Gina Proenza, Jealousy III, 2024, Detail, Courtesy of the artist, Kunsthalle
	Bielefeld, 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Gina Proenza, Jealousy III, 2024, Detail, Courtesy of the artist, Kunsthalle
 Bielefeld, 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Gina Proenza, Jealousy III, 2024, Courtesy of the artist, Kunsthalle Bielefeld,
	2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Gina Proenza, Jealousy III, 2024, Courtesy of the artist, Kunsthalle Bielefeld,
 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Installation view "Hyle”, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp
	Ottendoerfer
Installation view "Hyle”, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp
 Ottendoerfer
Nina Beier, Plugs, 2018-2023. Courtesy of CROY NIELSEN, Kunsthalle Bielefeld,
	2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Nina Beier, Plugs, 2018-2023. Courtesy of CROY NIELSEN, Kunsthalle Bielefeld,
 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Nina Beier, Plugs, 2018-2023. Courtesy of CROY NIELSEN, Kunsthalle Bielefeld,
	2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Nina Beier, Plugs, 2018-2023. Courtesy of CROY NIELSEN, Kunsthalle Bielefeld,
 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Installation view "Hyle”, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp
	Ottendoerfer
Installation view "Hyle”, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp
 Ottendoerfer
Installation view "Hyle”, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp
	Ottendoerfer
Installation view "Hyle”, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp
 Ottendoerfer
Detail, „Hyle”, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Detail, „Hyle”, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Izidora I LETHE, Flash, 2024, Courtesy of the artist, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2024.
	Photos credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Izidora I LETHE, Flash, 2024, Courtesy of the artist, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2024.
 Photos credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Detail, „Hyle”, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Detail, „Hyle”, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Detail, „Hyle”, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Detail, „Hyle”, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 2024. Photos credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Ceylan Öztrük, Self-Specular, 2022, Detail, Courtesy of the artist. Photos
	credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Ceylan Öztrük, Self-Specular, 2022, Detail, Courtesy of the artist. Photos
 credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Ceylan Öztrük, Self-Specular, 2022, Courtesy of the artist. Photos credits:
	©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Ceylan Öztrük, Self-Specular, 2022, Courtesy of the artist. Photos credits:
 ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Ceylan Öztrük, Self-Specular, a moment, 2022, Courtesy of the artist. Photos
	credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Ceylan Öztrük, Self-Specular, a moment, 2022, Courtesy of the artist. Photos
 credits: ©Philipp Ottendoerfer
Pauline Julier, Supernova, 2024, Courtesy of the artist. Photos credits: ©Philipp
	Ottendoerfer
Pauline Julier, Supernova, 2024, Courtesy of the artist. Photos credits: ©Philipp
 Ottendoerfer
Performance: TECHNĒ (flashes       , 2024, Photo: Courtesy of the artist / LETHE
Performance: TECHNĒ (flashes , 2024, Photo: Courtesy of the artist / LETHE
What materials form the inventory of our shared and individual histories? And how do these materials shape our collective futures? The exhibition Hyle¹ explores the underlying connection between materials and temporality. In ancient Greek, hyle stands for wood as a raw and untreated matter, that takes on form and meaning through technè – the human touch. Materials can embody power, social orders and cultural symbols. They not only form objects, but are also part of social relationships and cultural meanings. Extracted, processed and integrated into our living environment, materials shape the history of ecological and technological transformation. Filled with meaning in the context of specific time and place, materials–like geological layers–create the construct that we read as culture. The term "Zeitschichten" or layers of time was developed by the Bielefeld historian Reinhart Koselleck (1923-2006) and describes history as an interplay of processes that take place on different temporal levels: long-term, structural developments unfolding over centuries, such as geological movements; or short-term events, such as wars or political crises. Koselleck's model hints that material processes connect and influence these different temporal layers, forming and changing our societal structures. The cultural and symbolic charge of materials, their economic significance and their transformative potential form our understanding of history. So how do we project our multi-layered past into a possible future? The artists in Hyle¹ reveal these temporal layers and make the feedback loop between material and time visible. In their respective practices, the artists Nina Beier, Formafantasma, Pauline Julier, Izidora I LETHE, Ceylan Öztrük and Gina Proenza unveil the cultural significance of materials, studied in relation to time and place. Brought together in the Kunsthalle Bielefeld, the works form layers of meaning through cautionary tales and empowering experiences. *** The transitory character of the foyer is reflected by Gina Proenza's work "Moving Jealousy III" (2024). The work was created in response to the absurd story of a medieval court case in Switzerland, in which worms were put on trial for damaging the harvest. In reference to the demarcation of territory by legal authority, the semi-transparent curtain maneuvers the length of the exhibition space. This new reading of the space illustrates the artist's exploration of the topic of interspecies coexistence and how we use stories and words as material. The artist Nina Beier deals with cultural, geographical and logistical conditions of the material. The series "Plugs" (2018-2023) combines two levels of Western colonial history. On the one hand, it is about the history of the production of porcelain and its use in Western colonial countries; even the colors of the sinks - Bahama beige, Indian ivory - have an imperialist echo. On the other hand, the tobacco plugs stand for the exploitation of slaves in the cultivation of tobacco plants. In this way, the artist reveals colonial impulses and echoes that can be found in our everyday lives. In Formafantasma's video work "Quercus" (2020)–Latin for oak–the overused construction material is given a personality, an opinion and issues an appeal. It speaks of its own world perspective and points to our dependence on it as a material. It emphasizes that it has inhabited this planet for much longer than we humans have. In this way Quercus gives us an alternative reading of time and places the anthropocentric understanding of temporality in a new perspective. Ceylan Öztrük physically holds up a mirror, creating a powerful encounter where the viewer and their reflection merge into a shared object of contemplation. Through her works "Self-Specular" (2022) and "a moment" (2022), Öztrük seamlessly weaves the physical properties of the mirror with its profound symbolic resonance—evoking a gaze into one’s past, the ephemerality of a fleeting moment, and a potential emblem of deep self-reflection. In the five-part series "Flash" (2024), Izidora I LETHE use the rose as a symbol charged with meaning and recurrent throughout all periods of (art) history. In this way, LETHE refer to the German philosopher Walter Benjamin, who understood history as “matter of a construct whose place is not homogeneous and empty time, but time filled with the present”. In this way, Benjamin referred to the continuum of history. As a continuation of the work, Izidora I LETHE developed the performance "TECHNĒ (flashes ", which deals with the architecture of the Kunsthalle Bielefeld. TECHNĒ (flashes is a performance that raises questions about the body’s relation to different temporal layers and their interdependancy. Part of LETHE's choreography is the citation of works from the graphic collection of the Kunsthalle Bielefeld. Finally, the video work "Supernova" (2024) by Pauline Julier is dedicated to the origin of all material - all being. The video reminds us that an apparent end is often the condition for a new beginning. Stars, planets and ultimately the building blocks for life are created from the explosive force and the ejection of matter from a supernova. This shows that everything in the universe is interconnected. The elements that are released are the basis for new stars and galaxies. Comparable to cultural ideas and values that live on in new forms, continue to exist or merge into something new.
Undine Rietz and Kristina Grigorjeva

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