That Which Changes

Book: Moirés. Andreas Fogarasi, Katya Sander, Urtica / eds. Astrid Wege, Ulf Wuggening, Lüneburg: Verlag für Wissenschaft und zeitgenössische Kunst, 2008

Urtica’s on-site presentaton makes reference to the specific history and possible future of the art space and the university, which is housed in a converted barracks compex. With the abstracted image of butterfly, accompained by the title “Was sich ändert” (“That which changes”), Urtica inserted a symbol of transformation and metamorphosis in a room that was once used for storing tanks. Painted directly onto one of the art space, Urtica’s mural alluded not only to the removal in the 1990s of the traces and symbols of military use in the barracks, but also to the planned further redesign of the campus by Daniel Libeskind - thus drawing attention to the possible impact that new images and installations can exercise in a specific setting, possibly changing its character.

AW: Your site-specific intervention in Lueneburg consisted of a wall painting with a symbol of a butterfly which you relate to Edward Norton Lorenz’s theory that a small at first sight hardly perceivable impulse - the beat of butterfly's wing may triger substantial change. In a recent interview with Andrei Siclodi, you mention Lorenz’s assumption when asked which effects you intend to trigger through the Social Engine in general. What were your observations in situ to make this general aim of yours the specific of your Lüneburg intervention?

U: We wanted to question the notion of change by spotlighting the point where an artwork tries to transcend the boundaries of self-referential system of art and makes an attempt to penetrate into the social environment. Just as in the past the Iron Cross was a key symbol for decoding the military function of the buildings that are now the university; the symbol “That Which Changes” brings a notion to a current transformation of the university, and the pros and cons regarding the high-tech incubator that is to be built in the future and all the changes that it will cause.

Astrid Wege is a curator and critic. Her articles, exhibitions and publications analyze art as a form of cultural criticism, whether in relation to feminism, gender and science or time and value.