Czas Nasz | Unsere Zeit | Our Time

Funded: Günther Uecker

The Dresden Albertinum (SDK) is exhibiting the jute sculptures by Abakanowicz from the collection of the National Museum in Wrocław, while the Four Domes Pavilion in Wrocław (MNWr) is hosting an installation created by Günther Uecker and lent by the artist – who lives in Dusseldorf. Both exhibitions are presented simultaneously in Dresden and in Wrocław with the same title and are accompanied by an extensive educational programme.

The enslavement of humanity, its anguish, entanglement and weakness in the face of violence, and at the  same time its capacity for destruction, are the subjects explored by Günther Uecker. The installation 'Sandmühle', shown in the Four Domes Pavilion, is one of his early works, and the artist has been returning  to this subject ever since 1966. The monotonous turning of the wheel brings to mind people and animals in a yoke, forced to walk for hours in order to keep moving millstones and cranes. This piece can also be interpreted as an expression of Uecker's solidarity with those who are being used and exploited. A revolving mechanism leaves grooves in the sand, which then disappear and are made anew, thus evoking the associations with the Eastern symbol of mandala continuously created and destroyed, in reference to passing and being reborn in the eternal cycle of life.
This kinetic piece depicts time as a constantly progressing silent process, whilst also emanating unique energy.

This exhibition was supported by the ifa exhibition funding