Max Brück | Abluft | 26.08. - 02.10.2022 | exhaust pipes, concrete, firepan, wood, gloves, Polish coal
Four exhaust pipes pierce the roof elements of the exhibition space. Attached to these pipes open ovens built from concrete burn coal from south Poland. The burning causes air to be sucked out of the exhibition space and directed outside through the chimneys. This process stimulates a constant air circulation within the space: Air is sucked in and released again. Due to the constant decimation of the coal industry, the image of the smoking chimneys that shaped an entire landscape for decades is disappearing. The installation performs a final act; the burning of a forgettable, harmful and scarce material. For decades, the coal mining areas in Upper Silesia around Katowice in Poland produced the heating energy for an entire country. Heat, work, and the process of heating not only shape the landscape to this day, but also created a collective memory. In 2022, this is facing a massive change: climate agreements and the limitation of fossil fuels demand a radical closure of the mines. (Max Brück)
