Hin-/ Zu-/ Anwendungen

For thousands of years, people have turned to supernatural powers for protection and the fulfilment of their wishes. Religious communities have found various forms to fulfil this need. In Judaism, the tradition itself as well as prayer is of particular importance. 

The cabinet exhibition Hin-/Zu-/An-Wendungen presents two works that deal with this basic human need in completely different ways: Ofir Barak has used macro photography to capture the life of prayer notes in the Kotel, the Western Wall on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. The Israeli photographer's black and white series  "Chrysalis" reproduces the organic structures of the paper and their slow decay microscopically thus alienating their original appearance. Visually awakened to new life the slips of paper tell of past wishes that seem to be dissolving. What hopes and requests were associated with them? Have they been realised?

"Seventynine" by Michael Bielicky and Kamila B. Richter invites you to join the conversation. The media sculpture consists of an LED sphere on a bottle stand, the projection of which can also be heard in the room. This is made up of - only partially understandable - answers from an artificial intelligence to questions, requests and wishes from visitors. These can be asked or articulated via microphone. The contemporary golem created by the artist alienates and irritates. It acts independently and at the same time reacts to the visitors. Its dual form of action transfers the Jewish legend into the age of artificial intelligence.