BERLIN.- LAS opened an exhibition by Jakob Kudsk Steensen (b. 1987) at Halle am Berghain, Berlin, from 10 July – 26 September 2021. ‘Berl-Berl’ is the artist’s first major solo exhibition in continental Europe and transforms the legendary venue with a vast digital installation of lost and existing natural worlds. Working at the vanguard of art and technology, Kudsk Steensen is known for creating innovative projects which combine extensive field research with the latest in digital technologies. Visitors will experience a journey through a virtual wetland that covers Halle am Berghain’s 1,435-square-metre space. ‘Berl-Berl’ revitalizes lost perspectives on wetlands, presenting a combination of Berlin’s current marshes, extinct species and ancient swamp mythologies. The exhibition also includes an online virtual experience, hosted on the LAS website.
‘Berl’, the Slavish word for swamp, is thought to be the origin of the word ‘Berlin’ and gives the exhibition its name. Like a number of metropolises around the world, Berlin originated on a wetland – a saturated landscape capable of continuously sustaining life. Although wetlands account for only 1% of the planet’s ecosystems, they account for 10% of its biodiversity. Yet despite their crucial environmental role, wetlands and swamps are often perceived as dangerous, murky or repellent spaces. Kudsk Steensen is compelled by this disconnect, and the history and mystery of these spaces,which are simultaneously generative and decaying.
“Berl-Berl is a song and an organ for swamps, mourning the lost and embracing the new (being in the moment of transition), reviving wetland sensibilities and perspectives, making people appreciate the complexities and beauties of swamps around Berlin”, said Jakob Kudsk Steensen.
A number of large-scale LED screens, positioned over two floors, provide different vantage points onto the virtual environment, with constantly shifting combinations of imagery, from the hyper-realistic to the fantastical and futuristic, providing the viewer with an experience similar to that of moving through a physical landscape. To create the work, Kudsk Steensen documented local wetlands using macro photogrammetry, which allowed him to 3D scan flora and soil in ultra-detail and present visitors with new perspectives that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye.
The artist has also partnered with the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin to use their research collection of specimens and animal sounds, including those through time from the Brandenburg region. By combining these with his recordings from the wetlands, as well as research on extinct and living animal species, the artist builds a bridge between us and the history beneath our feet, transforming the Halle am Berghain into a portal in which relics of the Ice Age connect to present-day wetlands.
The project aims to combine perspectives on landscape through time and across disciplines. As well as being digitally and technologically innovative, it is engaged with local folklore, myths and legends, and incorporates the most up-to-the-minute scientific research on wetlands. Working in collaboration with scientists at the Museum für Naturkunde, Kudsk Steensen has immersed himself in wetlands close to the city. As the Covid-19 pandemic prompts many of us to reengage with our local environments, ‘Berl-Berl’ presents a new way of engaging physically with the natural world. Its showcase of the most forward-thinking new technologies also invites visitors to look to the future of these environments and the immediate need for their protection.
A site-specific soundscape has been produced for the installation, in collaboration with musician Arca and sound artist Matt McCorkle. It combines samples of Arca’s voice with archival records of wetland sounds (also from the Museum für Naturkunde) and spoken examples of the numerous different words for ‘Berlin’ over the centuries. The soundscape is emitted by a custom-built sound system which preferences different elements as visitors move through the space, and as the virtual world changes and develops.
Bettina Kames, Director of LAS, has said: “I am beyond excited to be working with Jakob Kudsk Steensen on his visionary new project, and first solo exhibition in Germany. Jakob’s environmental storytelling and technological innovation hits at the heart of our mission at LAS, to work with artists breaking new ground at the intersection of art, science and technology. Halle am Berghain is one of Berlin’s most famous venues and it is my hope that the extraordinary experience of ‘Berl-Berl’ will open up the visual arts to new audiences, and remind us of the tremendous ecological significance of the land beneath our feet.”
Jakob Kudsk Steensen (b. 1987, Denmark) is an artist working with environmental storytelling through 3D animation, sound, and immersive installations. Kudsk Steensen has recently exhibited internationally at the Serpentine Galleries (London, 2019), Pylon-Hub (Dresden, 2019), MATADERO (Madrid, 2019), Tranen Center for Contemporary Art (Copenhagen, 2018) and Times Square Arts and BRIC (New York, 2017). He also participated in the Collateral Events of the 58th Venice Biennale (Pinchuk Foundation, 2019) and the 5th Trondheim Art and Science Biennale (Trondheim, 2018). The artist was the inaugural recipient of the Serpentine Galleries’ Augmented Architecture Commission, which was established with Google Arts & Culture and architect Sir David Adjaye, OBE in 2019. Kudsk Steensen was shortlisted for the Future Generation Art Prize 2019. As part of the awards program, he was invited to create and exhibit new installations of RE-ANIMATED (2018-2020) in Kieve and Venice. He has received awards from the Danish Arts Foundation, the Lumen Arts Prize, The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, Games for Change, the Lumiere Foundation, The Telly Awards, and Cinequest Festival. He has been artist in residence at the Luma Foundation, La Becque and Callie’s.
