intermedia class

Exhibition of the Class for Intermedia, HGB Leipzig, led by Prof.Alba D’Urbano in cooperation with Franz Alken.
Spatial concept designed by the students of HTWK Leipzig, led by Prof. Andreas Wolf.

In a slightly unusual exhibition project the Intermedia Class presents 33 artistic projects by students, which document the field of interest the class has been exploring during the past four years. The term “100% HEALTH” is first of all a reference to the world of computer games, where a player’s avatar always appears in “best of health” in order to face challenges and adventures in digital space. This concept and its accompanying vision of an ideal state of being suggest an equivocality and a diverging use in the exhibition project: first of all the title reflects a Utopian promise; the promise to offer to the spectators an absolute optimum beyond enhancement. This promise we give to a 100%.

In terms of subject matter the title refers to the focus of interest which evolved – without the specification of a theme – over the past years in class: the great majority of the works are concerned with the construction of identity, and focus – accordingly – on the ways role models are used, developed and perceived.

The selection of the works follows associative principles. The gallery is transformed into a stage and a laboratory. The result is an associative journey with a loop-like, labyrinthine basic structure. Within this labyrinth are hidden rooms , so-called “secret chambers”, that Franz Alken has built into the exhibition. The artist transfers the principle of the secret chamber, often the location of great treasures in films and computer games, onto the entire situation of the exhibition: the visitor has to transgress the common rules of gallery visits and learnt behaviour in order to access all the works.

The “occupation” of the gallery rooms, which are rarely used for class presentations, qualifies the exhibition as a reaction to the chronic lack of space, in particular for space related projects and installations. The intervention into the architecture of the gallery creates a meta work of art, which incorporates the individual artistic positions. The concept for the space was developed in collaboration with Prof. Ingo Andreas Worf and students of the HTWK (Leipzig Academy of Applied Sciences) and does not as usual merely define the spatial appearance of the works, but has been designed with consideration for the works and thus interrupts the existing, dominating architecture of the HGB gallery.

With this exhibition the class raises a number of issues concerning the “state of health” of art and art education, the presentation of media based works, the architectural conditions of space and its use.