ARTIST TALK 04|05|2023 3:30PM | VERNISSAGE 06|05|2023 6PM | EXHIBITION 07|05 – 25|05|2023
Where are we going? Leaving our traces on the surface of the Earth …
Waste contributes to our carbon footprints, but it also bears the potential for reuse. liina klauss’s work with lost, forgotten and discarded flip-flops that were washed ashore on Asian coasts shows the potential for beauty that lies in garbage. Her brightly coloured mosaics made of thong and sole fragments speak to us about use and reuse, materiality and metamorphosis, waste and vanity.
To liina klauss, trash is an inspiration to create. Her work from found objects makes us re-see and rethink waste and its potential for beauty. At the same time, it reminds us of the traces we leave on the surface of the Earth and the ecosystems we inhabit.
Putting her time and skill into materials that are deemed worthless in capitalist terms to expose their true cost, liina klauss uses beauty as a bait — not as an excuse — to hopefully inspire more holistic ways to make, use, repair and love things.
liina klauss (*1974) is an environmental artivist, artist, and beach curator based in Bali and Hong Kong. Her works range from large colourful open-air installations made of discarded items found in nature to sophisticated displays and photographic documentations of objects that the ocean has washed ashore. Having shown her works in solo exhibitions at institutions like the Hong Kong Maritime Museum and other venues across Asia, traces is her first exhibition in Europe.
An exhibition curated by Anna Grasskamp and co-curated by Sophie-Charlotte Bombeck in association with the conference: (Re)Made in China: material dis:connections, art and creative reuse 4 & 5 May 2023 at at Käte Hamburger Research Centre global dis:connect. Contact: remade.in.china.conference@gmail.com
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ARTIST TALK 04|05|2023 3:30PM
Conversations about value and waste/ an artist's perspective
This talk explores perceptions of value and beauty versus waste and ugliness, exemplified through the body of work of artist liina klauss. In her works, the objects stay the same intrinsically, but perceptions of their worth, beauty and belonging change depending on their context and location. liina suggests that value is something humans create rather than a given condition. Using the example of plastic, the talk explores the creation of value and waste and the costs for environment, health and culture that come with it. She further explores possible solutions to these challenges that can come from a change in perspective, using art as a tool.
Response by Silvia Gaetti (GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts)
Silvia Gaetti works as a curator at the GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts in Leipzig. From 2013 to 2016 she was a trainee curator at the Ethnological Museum in Berlin and Humboldt LAB Dahlem. She had previously worked in various galleries as well as at the Venice and Berlin Biennales in the fields of education and mediation of contemporary art. She completed her studies in art history in a global context and Sinology in Venice and Leiden with stays in Berlin and Beijing. The thematic focus of her curatorial work lies in the areas of transculturality and transdisciplinarity in art and design with a special emphasis on gender and environmental issues. She is currently working on the special exhibition Futures. Materials and Design of Tomorrow planned to open in November 2024.
