NORD / Eiswürfel I, 2023
Intervention
Båtsfjord, Norwegen

"On November 18, 2023, I filled an ice cube machine with meltwater from the North Pole and returned the cubes to the Arctic Ocean (Båtsfjord, Northern Norway)."

The project was realized during the artists fellowship at the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) Potsdam 2023/24, where she spend a year exploring the representation of the Arctic. The meltwater was provided to her by the journalist and author Birgit Lutz. Her journey was exclusively by public transportation, such as train, bus and ferry, with the exclusion of airplanes and cruise ships. The ice cube machine was powered by a solar battery (charged in advance with Westphalian sunlight)."

Photos: Jan Philip Scheibe

NORD / Eiswürfel I (Plastiskope), 2024
plastics
variable dimensions

Installation of so-called plastiscopes (souvenir televisions) displaying the documentation of the intervention “NORD / Eiswürfel I” Swaantje Güntzel realized in November 2023.

The project was realized during her fellowship at the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) Potsdam 2023/24.

Eisbär / Malen nach Zahlen, 2024
acrylic on canvas
50,5 × 50,5 cm (frame)

Image of a polar bear in a zoo enclosure, which was realized as a Paint-by-numbers motif. The picture was created by A.I. DALL.E 2 generated after the the term “polar bear” was searched for. All images generated by A.I. showed polar bears in zoos, none showed a polar bear in the wild.

The work was created during the fellowship of Swaantje Güntzel at the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) Potsdam.

Bronzepferd, 2021
bronze
10 x 10 x 2 cm

Copy of a plastic horse washed up on Midway Atoll (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands) after drifting in the Pacific Ocean.

Realized with the help of Kure Atoll Conservancy.

Photo: Tobias Hübel

When are we fucking done…, 2023
Acryl on canvas
190 x 260 cm

Photo: Tobias Hübel

Hand, 2023
bronze
22,5 x 17 x 8 cm

Bronze cast of the left hand of a member of the climate change activist group „Last Generation“.

Installation view Villa Dessauer Bamberg.

Photos: Tobias Hübel

Series CREVASSE, 2022

The images of glaciers found on photographs, postcards, CdV, maps etc. were cut out and preserved.

Pasterzengletscher (Grossglockner) / Austria, 1931
cut photograph
29,5 x 23,5 cm (framed)

Brixsdalsbreen / Norway, ca. 1970s
cut postcard
33,4 x 22,8 cm (framed)

Pasterzengletscher (Grossglockner) / Austria, ca. 1960s
cut photograph
20,8 x 25,6 cm (framed)

Brixsdalsbreen / Norway, 1938
cut postcard
30,5 x 25,5 cm (framed)

Mer de Glace (Glacier Montanvert) / France, 1800
copperplate print
30 x 34,5 cm (framed)

Svartisen Gletscher / Norway, 1910
cut postcard
29,7 x 25,3 cm (framed)



Photos: Tobias Hübel

Swaantje Güntzel, Katrin Bethge, 2022
ongoing series
watercolor
(4 x) 44 x 55 cm
(3 x) 37 x 45 cm
(4 x) 22,5 x 28 cm

Watercolor series created in collaboration with Hamburg based artist Katrin Bethge. Bethge was commissioned by Güntzel to paint landscape formations inspired by the Arctic and Antarctic. The watercolors were made with melted snow from Antarctica as well as melted glacier ice, extracted from 2.2 km depth from the Greenland ice sheet. Both samples were provided by Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research.

Photos: Tobias Hübel

SPACE HEROINES, 2022/23

Series of female superheroines who maintain law and order in the universe and fight against space debris. Based on text descriptions, the series was generated with the open source AI system DALL·E 2. It is conceived as a commentary on male-dominated space travel and of male-determined self-conceptions of space conquest. It was created in the context of an artist residency at European Space Agency (ESA/ESOC) in Darmstadt in collaboration with Kultur einer Digitalstadt that I held in 2022. Since then, I have continued to further develop the work, which simultaneously questions the practice of AI in which “heroines” are standardized as white, young, slender, mostly blond, scantily clad, over-sexualized women.

asian looking plus size heroine wearing a turtle neck fighting villains and orbital debris satellites in the back comic style

plus size heroine with short dark hair wearing a turtle neck fighting orbital debris comic style

heroine with dark hair fighting in space satellites in the back, comic style

asian plus size heroine wearing a turtle neck fighting villains and orbital debris satellites in the back comic style

black heroine fighting space debris, satellites in the background comic style

black space heroine fighting debris comic style

Heroine defending space against villains and space debris, comic style

black space heroine fighting debris satellites in the background comic style

muslim heroine with a headscarf fighting space debris comic style

handicapped heroine with dark hair fighting villains and orbital debris, comic style

handicapped black heroine wearing a turtle neck fighting orbital debris comic style

heroine with grey hair wearing a turtle neck fighting orbital debris, satellites in the back comic style

asian plus size heroine wearing a turtle neck fighting villains and space debris comic style

wire printer, fanfold paper, ribbon, laptop, wooden table, chair
variable dimensions

Printout on fanfold paper that defines the position of all space debris objects larger than 1 cm at the exact moment of the opening of the show [INSTANT] LANDSCAPE at Städtische Galerie Eichenmüllerhaus Lemgo on September 20th, 2020, 12 am.

Realized with the help of the Space Debris Office of European Space Agency (ESA).

Fotos: Tobias Hübel

Golden Record / image No. 117
color photograph
29,5 x 23 cm

On October 20th, 2022 the image of a sanitation truck (Jamaica Bay, NY) from the year 1973 was uplinked through the tracking network of European Space Agency (ESA) in the direction where the “Golden Records” attached to the NASA Voyager space probes are currently traveling in interstellar space. The image is to be understood as addition to the collection of 116 diagrams and pictures generated by NASA in 1977 to supply the data collection stored on the Golden Records which was designed to inform possible extraterrestials about the existence of the earth and its inhabitants. The images on the data disc describe many aspects of human existence, but leave the reality of our modern life, such as the production of waste in large parts unnoticed.

The work was created during my Artist-in-Science Residence at European Space Agency (ESA / ESOC) in collaboration with Kultur einer Digitalstadt in Darmstadt.


Installation view: Albrecht Haag

Swaantje Güntzel, Andreas Zierhut
Sterntaler, 2022
Diasec
120 x 80 cm

Contemporary interpretation of the fairy tale "Sterntaler" (Grimm´s Fairy Tales). The artist looks into the evening sky in which, in addition to stylized stars, a chain of Starlink satellites (SpaceX) can be seen. The works has been realized in collaboration with the photographer Andreas Zierhut.

Photo: Andreas Zierhut

“Sterntaler” was created during my Artist-in-Science Residence at European Space Agency (ESA/ESOC) in collaboration with Kultur einer Digitalstadt in Darmstadt.

SEESTÜCK (Seascape) I, 2020
Diasec
80 x 120 cm

Portrait staged in front of a seascape without title by Karl Rohwedder-Ruge (1865-1940), dated on the first third of the 20th century. The painting is part of the collection of Nordfriesland Museum. Nissenhaus Husum. The artist is surounded by single use plastic items typically found in public space.

Photo: Henriette Pogoda

SEESTÜCK (Seascape) II / Hamburger Kunsthalle, 2020
Diasec
80 x 120 cm

Portrait staged in front of the work “The Ice Sea” (1823/24) by Caspar David Friedrich at Hamburger Kunsthalle. The artist is surrounded by plastic bottles that have been collected at the River Elbe and other waters in Hamburg.

Photo: Henriette Pogoda

SEESTÜCK (Seascape) III / Bröhan-Museum, 2021
Diasec
80 x 120 cm

Portrait realized in front of the work "Wellen im Sturm" (Waves in the storm), 1915, by Karl Hagemeister. The artists is holding foil balloons while contemplating the painting, being surrounded by balloons found on different German beaches and balloons that already deflated.

Photo: Henriette Pogoda

SEESTÜCK IV / Museum Kunst der Westküste, Föhr, 2024
Diasec
80 × 120 cm

Production in front of the work “Harbor Entrance” (1916) by Erich Heckel (1883–1970). The work was realized in the painting depot of Museum Kunst der Westküste (Föhr). The artist holds a 100-pound US aerial bomb under her arm which was recovered from the North Sea.

Realized with the help of SeaTerra GmbH.

“On December 2nd, 2021 at 12.04 a.m. I ate a yoghurt and threw the plastic pot into the Ofotfjord (Norway)”

Photos: Jan Philip Scheibe

stomach contents XXL, 2014
plastics, metal
height: 145 cm

Vending machine filled with plastic toys that have been ingested by Laysanalbatrosses in the Pacific Ocean.

Realized with the help of Kure Atoll Conservancy.

Fotos: Alexander Burzik

Können Sie nicht mal was Schönes machen? //
Fram Strait (Arctic Sea), 2021
sticker on Fine Art Prints
38,5 × 41,5 cm

Series, created in response to visitors requesting that the artists should do something nice for a change. Fine Art Prints showing supposedly 'upsetting' themes were covered with tacky stickers. Here: Images taken by the OFOS camera system of the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research from the bottom of the deep sea of the eastern Fram Strait (Arctic Ocean) where more and more garbage is detected.

Realized with the help of Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research

Photo: Tobias Hübel

JOANA / ingested, 2019
Diasec
112 x 80 cm

Portrait of the artists assistant “throwing up” plastic fragments that were found in the bolus of an albatross chick on Kure Atoll (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands).

Realized with the help of Kure Atoll Conservancy.

Photo: Henriette Pogoda

Spielzeug-Vitrine I, 2021
plastics
25,2 × 17 × 15,2 cm

Show case for toy collectors, filled with toys ingested by Laysan albatrosses in the Pacific Ocean and later found on Midway Atoll (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands) in the dead birds.

Realized with the help of Kure Atoll Conservancy.

Photo: Tobias Hübel

MICROPLASTICS III / Discofish, 2016
Diasec
66,7 x 100 cm

Plaice (pleuronectes platessa) covered with glitter particles extracted from beauty products.

Foto: Henriette Pogoda Fotografie

PORTRAIT / NSW Australia 2020, 2020
Diasec
120 x 80 cm

Portrait of the artist getting covered with ashes and charcoal collected after the devastating bushfires in New South Wales/Australia in 2020.

Photo: Henriette Pogoda

Piñatas, 2021
carton, plastics
variable dimensions

Traditional Mexican piñatas usually filled with candy and toys, were installed as a group. Underneath the piñatas toys were displayed that washed ashore the beaches of the Frisian island Langeoog after a container vessel lost 6 containers in a storm in the North Sea in 2017. Installation view at Galerie Holthoff, Hamburg.

Realized with the help of Lions Club Langeoog.

Photo: Tobias Hübel

Können Sie nicht mal was Schönes machen? //
Garzweiler & Einhörner, 2021
oil on canvas
67 x 100 cm

Oil painting commissioned by the artist from a Chinese copyist, produced in response to the request of her visitors to create something nice for once. The painting shows a view of the Garzweiler open-cast lignite mine covered with unicorns, rainbows and a castle floating on a cloud.

Photo: Tobias Hübel

Schönes Bild (Beautiful Painting), 2021
sticker, gilt frame
75 × 64 cm (size of frame)

Different stickers applied directly on the wall and a gilt frame.

Photo: Tobias Hübel

Stereoskopie, 2021
paper, plastics
37,5 × 29,9 cm


Photo: Tobias Hübel

BLOWBACK II, 2015
Performance

Garbage collected in 1/2 hours walks on two beaches around the Aabenraa Fjord DK was thrown back into the Fjord while riding a swan pedal boat.

Foto: HC Gabelgaard

Aabenraa ARTweek

BLOWBACK IV / Ystad, 2019 Performance

Relocating garbage collected on the streets and beaches of Ystad/Sweden at the marina of Ystad. Part of the exhibition DEEP SEA at Ystads konstmuseum.

stomach contents, 2010
plastics, metal
19 x 16,5 x 42,6 cm

Gumball machine loaded with plastic containers carrying plastic waste (mainly toys) found in the bolus of Laysan Albatrosses on Kure Atoll/Hawaii.

Realized with the help of Kure Atoll Conservancy

Plastic guns // MSC Zoe, 2019
Diasec
100 x 67 cm

Portrait with 2 plastic guns collected on the beaches of the German island Borkum after the container vessel MSC Zoe lost 345 containers in a storm off the Dutch coast in January 2019.

Foto: Henriette Pogoda Fotografie Hair & Makeup: Claudia Wegener-Bracht

NORTH SEA // Surprise Eggs, 2018
oil on canvas, plastics
59 x 89 cm

Oil painting inspired by Patrick von Kalckreuth's "Schaumkronen auf Wogender See" (1950), commissioned by a Chinese copyist in "Dafen Village" in Shenzhen on behalf of the artist. The oil paint was mixed with plastic particles obtained from shredded surprise eggs. The surprise eggs come from a vessel that lost its freight in a heavy storm on January 4th, 2017 off the coast of the East Frisian island Langeoog.

Realized with the help of Lions Club Langeoog.

Foto: Tobias Hübel

Northern white rhinoceros / embryo, 2021
linen, thread
24,3 x 22,7 cm

Embroidery showing the cell division of an embryo of the northern white rhinoceros produced in the laboratory. Currently, there are only two females of this species left. Oocytes from these specimens were fertilized in vitro with the stored semen of a deceased male animal. The embryos are now stored in liquid nitrogen for transfer to a surrogate mother in the future.

Photo: Tobias Hübel

Hermaphrodit, 2018
installation: tablecloth (140 x 200 cm), chair, plate, cutlery, glass

Tablecloth designed by using a photograph showing a histological section through the testicular tissue of a male rainbow trout. The trout had been exposed in a laboratory experiment to the plasticizer "nonylphenol" and had developed a second gender in parallel.

Realized with the help of Bayerisches Landesamt für Umwelt (LfU).

Fotos: Tobias Hübel

BPA, 2018
paper
29,7 x 21 cm

Laboratory report of the examination of the urine of the artist on the plasticizer bisphenol A (BPA).

The laboratory report shows the laboratory results ​​for her individual, plastic-free diet and comparative measures ​​of the German average in the age groups from 3 to 29 years.

PLASTIFIED/Vortex II, 2016
Intervention

Marine debris washed ashore the beach of Órzola/Lanzarote was collected and relocated in a natural pool. The artist took a bath in the middle of the debris. Lanzarote/Spain.

Portrait // Plastic Flowers/MSC Zoe, 2019
Diasec
100 x 67,7 cm

Portrait using plastic flowers that were washed ashore the beaches of Langeoog in January 2019 after the container vessel MSC Zoe lost 345 containers in a storm in the North Sea off the Dutch coast. 20 containers have been washed up, the rest sank.

Foto: Henriette Pogoda Fotografie Hair & Makeup: Claudia Wegener-Bracht

PLASTIFIED/cactus, 2016
photographic series
Diasec
45 x 80 cm

Photographic series on plastic bags stuck in cactus. Lanzarote/Spain.

Discounter Still Life, 2013
based on the painting „Still life with ham, lobster and fruits” by Davidsz. de Heem (1653)
Diasec
66,7 x 100 cm

The work „Discounter Still Life II“ refers to the painting „Still life with ham, lobster and fruits“ (1653) by Davidsz. de Heem (born 1606 in Utrecht; died 1683 or 1684 in Antwerpen. The arrangement of the original was reinterpreted in a contemporary approach using food that shows the consumer behaviour of today.

Foto: Ulla Sladek Fotografie

Anna, carrying plastic wrapped fruit, 2019
Diasec
70 x 47 cm

Foto: Henriette Pogoda Fotografie
Model: Anna Angelina Wolfers
Hair & Makeup: Claudia Wegener-Bracht

Discounter Still Life II, 2017
based on the painting „Pronkstillleven with fruit and fowl“ by Abraham Hendricksz. van Beyeren (1651)
Photography
Diasec
80 x 67,7 cm

The work „Discounter Still Life II“ refers to the painting „Pronkstillleven with fruit and fowl“ (1651) by Abraham Hendricksz. van Beyeren (born 1620 or 1621 in Den Haag; died 1690 in Overschie), one of the most famous Dutch still life painters of his time. The arrangement of the original was reinterpreted in a contemporary approach using food that represents the consumption patterns of today: plastic wrapped discounter goods from overseas bought in cheap supermarkets.

Foto: Henriette Pogoda Fotografie

LOOPS, 2018

Project realized during the Art Festival DREHMOMENT of KulturRegion Stuttgart. I was working at the recycling company Schrott- und Metallhandel M. Kaatsch GmbH to visualize the physical and logistical effort required to keep ressources in a closed recycling loop.

Fotos: Jan Philip Scheibe, Tobias Hübel

GOLD II
polystyrene, gold leaf
20,5 x 25 x 7 cm

Common packaging for take away menus made of polystyrene covered with gold leaf.

Foto: Tobias Hübel

PLASTIFIED/hotel pool, 2016
Intervention

Plastic bags from local supermarkets were thrown into a hotel pool in Puerto del Carmen/Lanzarote, Spain.

Microplastics/1 squaremeter = 1370, 2016
Performance

1 squaremeter at Playa de Montaña Bermeja/Lanzarote was cleared of microplastics. 1370 pieces were counted.

MICROPLASTICS II, 2016
Diasec
120 x 80 cm

Foto: Henriette Pogoda Fotografie

My work MICROPLASTICS II is currently used in the wonderful project IN YOUR FACE by Ocean.Now! for the campaign “Ban Microplastics in Cosmetics and Cleaning Products”.

“In Your Face” is a media-driven collective project with participants from around the world. Over a period of 3 months, ocean lovers collected microplastic samples that are now shown symbolically in the shape of a “beauty mask” on “known faces”. The bloody nose stands for the destructive character of microplastics. Our collective wave of resistance aims at sending a clear message: It’s time to finally ban microplastics in cosmetics and cleaning products. It’s time for us humans to look ourselves in the eye.” (Ocean.Now!)

Scheibe & Güntzel

PLASTISPHERE/Promenade Thessaloniki, 2016
Intervention

Plastic garbage collected in the archeological site Galerius Palace in the center of Thessaloniki/Greece was relocated in the course of an intervention at the promenade of Thessaloniki.

PLASTISPHERE is a project designed for the PUBLIC SPACE that conceptually investigates the anthropogenic pollution of the oceans and the presence of plastic in our everyday lives by the German artists Swaantje Güntzel and Jan Philip Scheibe. The project touches topics such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, microplastics, noise pollution, beach littering, plastisphere, problems in urban waste management, our purchasing behavior and its consequences for marine life resulting therefrom. PLASTISPHERE tracks down the origins of marine pollution and brings them into the public imagination. The project playfully engages and comments on our consumer and waste management habits, our polluting lifestyles overwhelming the natural world and our inability to address this global problem.

PLASTISPHERE/Thessaloniki was realized in February/March 2016 as Residency #1 of ARTECITYA "Envisioning the City of Tomorrow" in collaboration with artbox, Goethe Institut Thessaloniki under the framework of Creative Europe.

ARTECITYA Scheibe & Güntzel

Foto: Giorgos Kogias

Video: Grigoris Tsolakis

Scheibe & Güntzel

PLASTISPHERE/Vortex Thessaloniki, 2016
Intervention

In the course of the preparation of the project PLASTISPHERE/Thessaloniki the artists explored the streets of Thessaloniki already in November 2015. During one of their walks they observed how the wind was taking up hundreds of plastic bags lying around in the streets of the „Chinese Quarter“ of Thessaloniki. They collected the garbage and reenacted the situation they had witnessed in the cultural venue „Old Slaughterhouse“ which is located close to the Chinese Quarter.

PLASTISPHERE is a project designed for the PUBLIC SPACE that conceptually investigates the anthropogenic pollution of the oceans and the presence of plastic in our everyday lives by the German artists Swaantje Güntzel and Jan Philip Scheibe. The project touches topics such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, microplastics, noise pollution, beach littering, plastisphere, problems in urban waste management, our purchasing behavior and its consequences for marine life resulting therefrom. PLASTISPHERE tracks down the origins of marine pollution and brings them into the public imagination. The project playfully engages and comments on our consumer and waste management habits, our polluting lifestyles overwhelming the natural world and our inability to address this global problem.

PLASTISPHERE/Thessaloniki was realized in February/March 2016 as Residency #1 of ARTECITYA "Envisioning the City of Tomorrow" in collaboration with artbox, Goethe Institut Thessaloniki under the framework of Creative Europe.

ARTECITYA Scheibe & Güntzel

Foto: Giorgos Kogias

Video: Grigoris Tsolakis

Scheibe & Güntzel

spring cleaning, ongoing since 2006
Series of interventions

The term „spring cleaning“ is interpreted in a literal sense – selected areas representing untouched, cultivated and culturally loaded landscape are „cleaned“ using ordinary cleaning devices.

PLASTISPHERE is a project designed for the PUBLIC SPACE that conceptually investigates the anthropogenic pollution of the oceans and the presence of plastic in our everyday lives by the German artists Swaantje Güntzel and Jan Philip Scheibe. The project touches topics such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, microplastics, noise pollution, beach littering, plastisphere, problems in urban waste management, our purchasing behavior and its consequences for marine life resulting therefrom. PLASTISPHERE tracks down the origins of marine pollution and brings them into the public imagination. The project playfully engages and comments on our consumer and waste management habits, our polluting lifestyles overwhelming the natural world and our inability to address this global problem.

PLASTISPHERE/Thessaloniki was realized in February/March 2016 as Residency #1 of ARTECITYA "Envisioning the City of Tomorrow" in collaboration with artbox, Goethe Institut Thessaloniki under the framework of Creative Europe.

ARTECITYA Scheibe & Güntzel

Foto: Giorgos Kogias

Video: Grigoris Tsolakis

Coffee to go, 2015
Performance

After sewing a "trunk" made of lids for coffee-to-go cups the artists wanders around, stares at people, stops in front of walls and eventually opens the trunk again to throw the lids on the floor. She then disappears.

Foto: Wolfgang Probst

PLASTISPHERE//bottled light/Langeoog, 2018
Performance

Bottles collected in a nature reserve along the River Elbe (Hamburg) and cleaning agent bottles were supplied with LED illuminant and thrown into the North Sea in the context of a performance on the beach of Langeoog (Germany).

Foto: Jan Philip Scheibe

Candy Grabber, 2013
plastics, metal
26,8 x 20 x 34,8 cm

A candy grabber was filled with marine debris instead of candy. The items were found in the bolus of seabirds and on the beaches of Kure and Midway Atoll/Hawaii.

Realized with the help of Kure Atoll Conservancy

stomach contents/340 g, 2012
plastics, metal
19,7 x 26,7 x 25,4 cm

An ordinary humming-top was filled with all the plastic garbage found in the stomach of one Laysan albatross chick on Kure Atoll/Hawaii.

Realized with the help of Kure Atoll Conservancy

Napoli, 2014                                                                          hand-painted porcelain
diameter: 19,9 cm

Hand-painted porcelain plate showing the streetscape of Naples/Italy when the litter service was on strike.

Visual mapping/tracking trash, 2015
Embroidery series
thread, linen
37 x 50 cm

Conceptual embroidery series visualizing the movement pattern of floating marine debris (visual mapping).

Fotos: Anne Sundermann

paradise dissected, ongoing since 2009
Series of Installations

Installation of various modular cage systems (Habitrail, CritterTrail and SAM) used in critter keeping esp. hamster keeping. Size and shape of the installation varies depending on the characteristics of the exhibition space.

Fotos: Tobias Hübel

OFFSHORE, 2016
Soundinstallation
plastics, metal, loudspeaker, cable
78 x 87 x 20 cm

Different human generated sounds recorded underwater in the North and Baltic Sea, Atlantic Ocean as well as in the Mediterranean are played in a loop. The microphones are installed in two blue common childrens sand shells.

The work was realized with the help of Ocean Conservation Research and WDC Whale and Dolphin Conservation.

Earthquake Syke, 2018
sythetic fiber, cotton
128 x 290 cm

Rug with printed pattern showing the seismographic record of the earthquake in Syke on May 1, 2014. It is believed that the earthquake was caused by natural gas production in the region.

Realized with the help of Landesamt für Bergbau, Energie und Geologie (LBEG) Lower-Saxony.

Foto: Tobias Hübel

Schaukelgestell/Swing, 2018
plastics, metal
247 x 203 x 105 cm

Swing rack equipped with pigeon defense spikes. The work questions our concept of space use.

Foto: Tobias Hübel

Room installation IMMERATH, 2018

Display of a selection of found objects (sand stones, roof slate and soil from the church of Immerath; garden lamp from abandoned house) related to the village of Immerath-Erkelenz that is currently taken down to make way for opencast lignite mining (RWE/Garzweiler). On January 8th, 2018 the church of Immerath (Immerather Dom) was torn down after being desecrated. The church was a symbol for the resistance against the resettlement strategies of RWE.

Realized with the help of Das gelbe Band​.

Fotos: Tobias Hübel

survival gardening/corn, 2010
Installation
corn plants, neon tubes, cable, soil, watering mat, wood
12 x 2,5 x 3 m

Presentation of the site-specific installation CORN in the context of the exhibition “survival gardening” in the former fallout shelter X-Bunker of the Danish city Sønderborg. The show reflects in what way mankind depends on nature/useful plants in general and in particular in an aftermath situation (e.g. after a nuclear disaster).

 

Scheibe & Güntzel

Schrebergarten//Kolonihave, 2009
Installation/Performance

Installation of a „kolonihave“ (allotment garden) in the park of Brundlund Slot in Aabenraa during ARTweek 2009, Denmark. The kolonihave was inhabited for a few days in the context of a performance. The project was realized in cooperation with Jan Philip Scheibe. The park is located 800 m as the crow flies from the world´s oldest allot settlements.

Schweinemast Osterburg OT, 2018
linen, thread
27 x 38,5 cm (incl. frame)

Satellite image of a pig farm in Saxony-Anhalt (Germany) transformed into a cross-stitch embroidery work.

Foto: Tobias Hübel

Takeoff F1, 2018
Installation

Installation of a conventional corn field (sweet corn) around the round rosebed in the park of Syker Vorwerk. The corn was harvested on September 5th, 2018.

Fotos: Tobias Hübel

MUTTERBODEN//MODER JORD, 2014
Intervention German-Danish borderland in cooperation with Anne Lildholdt Jensen

In April 2014, 150 years after the Battle of Dybbol, the German artist Swaantje Güntzel and the Danish artist Anne Lildholdt Jensen interchanged the soil of the German-Danish borderland. Anne Lildholdt Jensen dug a hole on the Danish side, Swaantje Güntzel on the German side. The soil was transported in wheelbarrows crossing a small concrete bridge and was then refilled in the other hole respectively.

ZOOCHOSIS, 2020
handpainted porcelain
Ø 31 cm

Handpainted plates showing behavioral disorders such as circling and pacing developed by animals in captivity (zoos).

Photo: Tobias Hübel

Querung Kiebitzholmbrücke 7.6.2012, 3:42 pm, 2015
oil on canvas
60 x 80 cm

An image of a camera monitoring the game pass at the animal bridge "Kiebitzholmbrücke" crossing the Autobahn 21 near Negernbötel in Schleswig-Holstein/Germany was send to a professional copyist in "Dafen Village" in Shenzhen/China. Dafen Village is the biggest copyist village in the world. The image was turned into a tacky landscape painting and then send back to Germany.

The work was realized with the help of Institut für Natur- und Ressourcenschutz, Abteilung Landschaftsökologie der Universität Kiel.

solstice fern, 2012
Performance series presented in selected ICA stores in Lapland/Sweden

Performance series realized in Norrbotten/Sweden (arctic circle) in December 2012. 10 ferns were provided with water, fertilizer and a plant light in the fruit and vegetable section of selected ICA stores. The symbolism of the performance is related to the data collection (The Golden Bough/1890) of the Scottish anthropologist Sir James Frazer (1854-1941) who described the different rituals and traditions performed during midsummer and winter solstice in selected regions of Europe. The rituals are all linked in one or the other way to FERN and are all applied to grow rich.

 

Blumenschiessen//Flowershooting, 2012
Series of interventions in the public space/Dutch-German borderland (Euregio)

A device for shooting flower seeds has been installed at seven selected locations in the border area of the Euregio in spring of 2012. Common seed of wild flowers was spread by the firepower and wind – the pattern was later seen in the growths of the plants. The project dissects different aspects of the relationship between man and nature, especially the arbitrary border establishment in natural open spaces/habitats.

The project was realized under the framework of GrensWerte.

Nagerkäfig//critter cage, 2007
plastics, metal, cast, glue
50 x 28 x 25 cm

A miniature landscape was build inside an ordinary critter cage representing the actual habitat of mice and hamsters.