Fuck the Solar System / Burning Down the House
Alois Kölbl in conversation with Bernhard Wolf

QL-Gallery, steirischer herbst 23

The exhibition project in the QL-Gallery, which also includes a discussion panel, is intended to stimulate a thought process in the face of the climate crisis. At the same time, the culture of debate is also discussed in a heated socio-political field of action.

Curator Alois Kölbl spoke to the artist Bernhard Wolf about his exhibition and the possibilities and limits of artistic intervention as a contribution to socio-political discourse.

The title of this issue and our QL annual theme is “Searching Connections”. We are reacting to the formation of social bubbles, the drifting apart of increasingly loud and aggressive groups with extreme positions and to the fact that the tone in socio-political discourse has become harsher. “Fuck the Solar System” is the title you gave to your exhibition in the QL Gallery. How does that have anything to do with these developments?

Bernhard Wolf: The exhibition concept and title can be linked to your annual theme in two ways. On the one hand, it seems to me that the climate crisis discussion has now reached the center of society, and on the other hand, the tone you mentioned, which is becoming harsher across society as a whole, can also be observed in the discussions in this area of ​​discourse and action. It’s about discussing measures and changes that are about the core of our Western consciousness – that is, about individuality and freedom of consumption – so it’s not surprising that emotions come into play and the conversation becomes more testy.

Climate activists of the “last generation” not only stick themselves on busy streets and intersections to attract attention, but also smear pictures in museums or pour paint or other substances over works of art. As an artist, what are your feelings regarding such actions?

I think that’s absolutely justified. If we are to believe the scientific findings, the threat situation is so blatant and unique in human history that drastic measures are required. I find the methods quite moderate; I’m actually surprised that, given the precarious situation, even more radical means haven’t already been used. I believe these measures are necessary, even if they naturally cause dissatisfaction. My exhibition will also include an interview that Thomas Wolkinger conducted with Ilona M. Otto, who, as a professor of social effects of climate change at the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change at the University of Graz, researches exactly these processes. From their observations and research it is clear how important street protests and activism are in social processes of this kind.

Back to the title of the exhibition “Fuck the Solar System/Burning Down the House”, which in the second part quotes a song title by the band Talking Heads from the eighties. How does it relate to the project in the QL Gallery?

The title arises from my artistic practice, in which I repeatedly deal with collective symbols and social clichés. I also like to quote from pop culture in my works. We all know slogans from protest movements, such as “Make Love not War” or similar. “Fuck the System” fits in seamlessly and has established itself as a statement that is often chanted or read on posters in the street protests of the last few decades. I like to use such standing sentences and then distort them in a certain direction for my artistic purposes in order to open up new levels of interpretation. “Fuck the System” is an expression of an individualistic-nihilistic attitude that refers to processes of change here on earth, “Fuck the Solar System” is an over-the-top semantic exaggeration that fictitiously turns against the entire cosmos and thus expresses total meaninglessness . I am trying to capture the overwhelming threat scenario to our habitat and a possible reaction to it in one picture.

As an artist, is it primarily about naming a problem area, or do you believe you can actually change something?

First of all, as a person and citizen, I am deeply moved by the challenges of the climate crisis and of course I want to change something in this regard. We are experiencing a scenario for which the last windows of action have a deadline. I try to incorporate that into my art too. I am of course aware that art can only be a sideshow in developing solutions to deal with the climate crisis. However, at least in our western society, art has good opportunities to attract social attention. For some time now I have been trying to use art to place climate statements in public spaces and thus in the field of social discourse. I always fall back on an icon that consists of a blue circle that represents the entire atmosphere, our habitat, and written inside it reads “+15°”. This corresponds to the average surface temperature on Earth. It is a striking image of the scientific knowledge that there will be fatal consequences if this temperature value increases further in the future.

The QL Gallery is not a white cube, but rather the former staircase of a stately, upper-class villa from the late nineteenth century that has been adapted into a gallery space. What role will this spatial setting play in your work?

I find the space for my work very exciting. It has very unusual proportions, especially in the atrium it develops an incredible height dimension, which challenged me. With my work I always react to very different and quite unusual spatial situations. It is important to me to enter into a dialogue with the respective space. Excerpts from the climate icon are applied to the towering pillars leading to the atrium, and there are also information graphics in the atrium; and when you then turn towards the exit, in the area that seems rather crowded because of the gallery above and the two radiators on the wall, you see a fragmented mammoth reminiscent of cave paintings. It seems like a quiet memento, of what could happen to us as humans if we don’t get global developments under control. Again somewhat striking – I’m aware of that. I know that the mammoth didn’t become extinct because of climatic changes, but one can’t help but think that our earth could continue to exist without the human species. I think awareness of this scenario has not yet reached mainstream society. With these very economical settings in the existing spatial structure, my aim is to visualize the repression mechanisms in the climate discourse, which have a direct connection to the achievements of our western affluent society, which we do not want to do without. The setting of the room represents the industrial age, in which people began to exploit the earth’s resources as efficiently and mercilessly as possible. A century later, we have now reached the end point of these developments. In this scenario of upper-class set pieces from the industrial age, which is generally associated with lavishness and opulence, I deliberately leave a lot of air and freedom through my very reduced settings. For me, the distortions in the discourse and the harsh tone in the discussions have a lot to do with the fact that the debate about an extremely complex topic is ultimately about the DNA of our socialization in the Western world, which is based on the paradigm of freedom of consumption, which we all do not want to do without, or only with great reluctance. However, we must very soberly take note of the prosperity statistics that ten percent of the world’s population causes over fifty percent of global CO2 emissions. The affluent Western society with all its achievements must face this responsibility and of course this also involves sacrifice and changes in individual lifestyles.

The room of the QL gallery is also the foyer of a student house. People who are not prepared to be confronted with art will also come in here. What does this mean for your work?

I often move outside the classical art context, so this is nothing unusual for me. For example in public spaces I primarily address a non-art audience. So I try not to formulate artistic messages that are too cryptic. But the project in the QL Gallery is not just an art project. It will be intertwined with a discussion panel in which Birgit Bednar-Friedl, the chairwoman of the climate advisory board of the city of Graz, with the business psychologist Thomas Brudermann and the communications scientist and climate activist Manuel Grebenjak will react to a theoretical input from Ilona M. Otto, Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change. Thomas Wolkinger, the head of the new course for sustainability communication and climate journalism at the FH Joanneum, will moderate the discussion. Discourse and theory material will also be available in the gallery space. I hope that I can make a meaningful contribution to reflection in a necessary change process.