Sediment

The history of nature has become the history of man. The term 'Anthropocene' describes man as the main influencing factor on the biological, geological, and atmospheric processes on earth. For the Robert-Sterl-Award 2023 exhibition, laureate Julia Schmelzer transforms the upstairs space of Robert-Sterl-Haus into a multimedia installation reflecting on different perspectives of this geochronological epoch.

For the Robert-Sterl-Award 2023 exhibition, laureate Julia Schmelzer transforms the upstairs space of Robert-Sterl-Haus into a multimedia installation reflecting on different perspectives of this geochronological epoch. The centerpiece is the video work "Stratum" (2023), which serves as a prologue and audio-visual draft for a new series of Schmelzer's work. The video imagines the expansion of the Anthropocene as a post-apocalyptic scenario: An era in which no longer only humans, but machines, especially those of information processing and artificial intelligence, dominantly influence the Earth system and the human system. In the video, contemplative image sequences encounter moving images from microchips and semiconductor production and geological structures. "Stratum" deals with memory structures and various questions about which possible accesses to memories will become relevant in the future through technology-based enhancements.

The 3D animation "Crown" (2023) is shown in a room next to it: The helix structure symbolizes the essence of life itself and represents the complex genetic code that makes up the diversity of living organisms. The hypnotic presence of the circular DNA helix structure studded with thorns is interrupted by a figure modeled on the Greco-Roman-Hellenistic bronze sculpture 'The Boy with Thorn'. The animation conveys an ambivalent sense of fragile harmony and the delicate balance between scientific progress and human influence in a broader ecosystem.

Schmelzer juxtaposes the video-based works with objects from the ongoing series 'EON' that visualize time in a larger dimension. In the exhibited watches, rocks are embedded in the case, such as various meteorites and impact rocks, pointing to a reckoning of time beyond human perception. Another contains Wehlen Elbe sandstone and references paintings by Sterl depicting local sandstone crushers and quarry workers at work in the early 20th century. Each of the enclosed materials refers to its own time of formation, millions of years before our era - a time when the universe and nature were the primary creative forces before human intervention. Sediments are deposits of matter, materialized time and records of environmental impacts. The exhibition Sediment takes a melancholic look at the imaginary drill core of the present and attempts to locate it between different chronological strata, as part of a constant process of transformation.

In video essays, time-based painting, and site-specific as well as immersive installations, Julia Schmelzer explores the depths of time and invisible structures, - from the cosmic and biological to the ecological and political, from a contemporary and futuristic perspective. Points of contact between phenomenology and speculation are analyzed and the relationship between man and machine is explored against the background of techno-liberal currents.

Julia Schmelzer is an artist and curator living in Dresden, Germany. After studying in Dresden and Paris, she graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts Dresden and attended Carsten Nicolai's master class for time-based media. Her work has been shown in various exhibitions in Germany, France, and Italy, among other countries. Schmelzer is co-founder and director of the international platform for media art PYLON and curator of the exhibition space HYBRID Box in Dresden.

SEDIMENT

Julia Schmelzer

Sep 22 - Oct 29, 2023

Robert-Sterl-Haus

Robert-Sterl-Haus

Robert-Sterl-Straße 30

01796 Struppen