Focus on Gravity

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The transdisciplinary research project “Focus on Gravity” is situated at the intersection of visual arts, art theory, and the history of technology and science. We understand gravity as a productive model of thinking about art, society and aesthetics. The contradictory approaches of Newton and Einstein to the phenomenon of gravity have long since found their way into everyday language: works of art are located in a special force field, ideologies exert an attractive force in society, and space-time encounters us in popular culture. This project aims to organise an exhibition and symposium in 2027. It will be carried out through an existing teaching programme by the departments of Art Theory and Cultural Studies, which laid the groundwork with a teaching project and a lecture series with guest speakers since winter 2025/26. The teaching project will continue in summer 2026 with guest lectures and excursions to CERN and the Virgo gravitational wave detector. Together with our partners at the Technical Museum (TMW) and the International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC), we will develop exhibitions, a book project and a conference panel within the framework of workshops (2026/27). *** Bildcredits: Edgar Allen Poe: Hans Pfaalls Mondreise und andere Novellen. Übersetzt von Gisela Etzel mit vierzehn Bildbeigaben von Alfred Kubin. Berlin: Propyläen Verlag, 1920 (Nr. 236/1000 Exemplaren aus der Buchdruckerei Otto Elsner, FOTO: S. 18f., Anna Spohn)

Funding

Funding Category

Sonderprojekt

Status

Approved