Experience Unbraked Self-Movements in the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus: GDR Art with Photography
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Photography as a Space of Freedom: Unbraked Self-Movements at the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus
The exhibition Unbraked Self-Movements. Art with Photography in the GDR opens an intense view into an idiosyncratic image culture of the 1980s. At the Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art – Diesel Power Plant Cottbus, photography, performance, installation, and conceptual art meet in a tension field of societal constriction, individual self-assertion, and artistic transgression.
Another Photography of the GDR
In the regulated society of the GDR, artists developed forms of experimental photography that consciously distanced themselves from the journalistic-documentary conception of images. Photography here appears not as a neutral representation but as an idea, gesture, material, and open space for thought. Montage, alienation, serial image sequences, and staging transform the photographic image into an instrument of self-expansion.
Between Action, Body, and Image Space
The works on display connect photographic techniques with performance, intervention, body art, and installation. Body, space, light, and action enter into a richly charged dialogue. Many works are related to subcultural networks, privately produced photo portfolios, and semi-legal magazines that created alternative spaces for publication, exchange, and aesthetic self-determination.
Artistic Positions of a Resistant Avant-Garde
Among others, works by Claus Bach, Tina Bara, Micha Brendel, Kurt Buchwald, Klaus Elle, Irene Fischer, Thomas Florschuetz, Else Gabriel, Klaus Hähner-Springmühl, Wolf Kahlen, Matthias Leupold, Olaf Martens, Cornelia Schleime, Erasmus Schröter, and Gabriele Stötzer can be seen. The roughly thirty artistic positions make visible a long-overlooked chapter of East German art history.
Curating and Art Historical Classification
The exhibition concept originates from the external curator Christoph Tannert. The curation classifies the experimental photography of the late GDR between conceptual art, performance, installation, and photographic avant-garde. At the same time, the exhibition points to the special significance of the photographic collection of the BLMK, which is considered the only established museum collection for photography in the GDR.
Aesthetic Experience in the Former Diesel Power Plant
The industrial architecture of the Diesel Power Plant creates a concentrated resonant space for the photographic works. High spaces, clear spatial axes, and the visible materiality of the building enhance the exhibition atmosphere. In the contemplation of the works, image rhythm, body posture, light, and photographic surface immediately come to the fore. This creates an intense art experience about freedom, perception, memory, and artistic autonomy.
Cultural Education and In-Depth Viewing of Works
The exhibition combines art historical information with a sensual engagement about the political and social situation of the late GDR. Visitors experience photography as a movable medium between document, action, and poetic counter-world. Guided tours, workshops, and educational programs of the BLMK deepen access to modern art, photographic practice, and cultural education.
Conclusion: Seeing GDR Art Anew
Unbraked Self-Movements shows how a seemingly limited medium can become a space of freedom. The exhibition welcomes art enthusiasts with experimental photography, performative traces, and a precise art historical perspective on the GDR. Those who want to experience the resistant power of these image worlds, their materiality, and their poetic shifts directly should definitely visit the art experience at the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus live.
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- Website: https://www.blmk.de
