Unbraked Self-Movements in the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus: Photography as Freedom
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Unbraked Self-Movements: Photography as a Space of Freedom
The Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art – Diesel Power Plant Cottbus is dedicated to the exhibition Unbraked Self-Movements. Art with Photography in the GDR, showcasing an experimental image culture from the 1980s. The focus is on art that understands photography not as neutral documentation but as material for self-assertion, self-expansion, and artistic boundary transgression.
A Different Photography of the GDR
In the tightly regulated society of the GDR, artists from various disciplines developed distinctive forms of a different photography and a photography from below. Privately produced photo portfolios and semi-legal magazines created their own public spheres. The exhibition makes visible how a non-state-supporting art withdrew from established image conventions and opened new avenues for aesthetic experience.
When the Image Becomes a Space of Action
The positions presented break away from the journalistic-documentary understanding of the image. Staging, alienation, montage, and serial orders expand photography to include performative and conceptual processes. Actions, performances, interventions, body art, and installations transform the photographic image space into a space of action. The examination of the works thus leads directly to questions regarding body, identity, societal constriction, and artistic autonomy.
Artistic Positions Between Avant-Garde and Self-Assertion
Among others, works by Claus Bach, Tina Bara, Micha Brendel, Kurt Buchwald, Thomas Florschuetz, Else Gabriel, Cornelia Schleime, Erasmus Schröter, and Gabriele Stötzer will be shown. The diverse works connect photography with artistic searching, conscious anti-aesthetics, and unpredictable design processes. Their forms range from serial sequences and tableaux to media experiments in which photography, performance, and installation intertwine.
Art Historical Context
The exhibition opens up an important chapter in the art history of the late GDR. The term art with photography denotes a practice where not the external image, but the idea, the process, and the attitude of a work are decisive. In the context of state-shaped image norms, an independent, subcultural art movement evolved with significant political and aesthetic explosive power. The curation of the concept is undertaken by Christoph Tannert as an external curator.
Exhibition Atmosphere in the Diesel Power Plant
In the historic exhibition venue of the Diesel Power Plant, cool photographic image surfaces, serial structures, and traces of physical action intersect. The concentrated spatial effect supports an intense examination of the works: light, material, surface, and sequence of images enter into a tension-filled dialogue. This creates an art experience that connects historical knowledge with immediate sensory perception.
Conclusion: Photography as an Artistic Breakthrough
Unbraked Self-Movements shows how photography could become a medium of freedom in a politically and socially constrained environment. The exhibition combines art historical depth, cultural education, and an intense aesthetic experience. Art enthusiasts should experience the exhibition at the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus live to directly sense the unbraked energy of these experimental image worlds.
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