On the Threshold of a Dream
Marc Müller, Antye Guenther, Kubilay Mert Ural en Gabriel Lester
Marc Müller, Antye Guenther, Kubilay Mert Ural en Gabriel Lester
28.05 / 21.08.2022
“If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn't,” said physicist and philosopher Emerson Pugh. In the exhibition On the threshold of a dream, 38CC shows the work of four artists, each of whom approaches and visualizes mental space in their own unique way. They are not so much inspired by direct observation, but rather by what goes on in their heads. This is how Marc Müller approaches mental space from an architecture perspective, in which life forms are absent and you can wander or get lost endlessly. He creates a world consisting of endless-looking maps, installations and objects that seem to be on a border: are they still under construction, or are they already decaying. The colorful paintings of Kubilay Mert Ural are filled with people, animals and alienating creatures. His work, which also includes sculptures, conveys an ominous atmosphere, as in a feverish dream. But there is also always room for humor and playfulness. The alienating images invite us to fathom the thoughts of both the artist and ourselves. In Gabriel Lester's new video The Blank Stare, we see a group of people who seem completely self-absorbed, trapped in their own heads. They are not only observed by the viewer, but also in the film from an observation room. All characters are connected by an inward gaze. We can only guess what they are looking at and what they are thinking about. With her video installation The Upload, Antye Guenther lets us reflect on the place where the stories in the exhibition all take place: the brain. The basis is an MRI scan that she had made of her own brain. Since the combination of image and sound, the viewer can enter a meditative state in which his own mental space is explored. This work, and in fact the entire exhibition, raises questions about what goes on in your own head.
