Mehrwert | Netz : Mroczek

vitrine

...this is a solo exhibition hosted by Mehrwert at the Interfood Vitrine in Aachen and organized by Petra Herzog.

The starting point of the exhibition is centered around Water. Aachen holds one of Western Europe's few hotsprings and since antiquity the water has drawn people to live in what was once a marshy swamp. The hot spring water is now pumped into hospitals and resort centers around the city.

The exhibition then looks at the legacy of Adolph Sutro born in Aachen in April 29, 1830 he immigrated to California at the age of 20 and died August 8, 1898 in San Francisco. During his lifetime he built the Sutro Tunnel to gain access to the Comstock Load; located in what is now the ghost town of Sutro, Nevada on the outskirts of Virginia City. After his mining success he sold his shares in the Sutro tunnel and opened Sutro Baths just west of San Francisco to what was agreed upon as the world's largest indoor pool along with a museum, a library and effective amusements. The Baths can be viewed as a precedent to water theme-park culture.

The exhibition goes further to look at the legacy and influence of other 19th and 20th century Germans immigrating to California and points West practicing a "natural lifestyle" setting the stage for what was to be called hippi culture.

Thermalwasserroute Aachen
The Cliff House Project
maps.google.com: Sutro Baths to Sutro Tunnel

| Kenneth Andrew Mroczek

Kenneth Andrew Mroczek

*1981 Seattle, Washington, USA
lebt und arbeitet in Brüssel und Cascadia

Kenneth Andrew Mroczek hat eine enge Verbindung zur Natur, die er über Objekte vermittelt, geleitet durch ein grundsätzliches Interesse an der sozialen Geschichte, die Architekturen innewohnt, zum Beispiel in Projekten wie "Opa-Tisha-Wocka-Locka" oder "Y€$ I See Stars". Der Seele der Dinge wird dabei intensive Beachtung geschenkt, als ob der Ausstellungsraum heilende Energie enthalten könnte. Dies ist jedoch keine Form von Schamanismus, sondern vielmehr eine Überprüfung einer Liste ästhetischer Codes, von Handwerkskunst bis hin zu Neo-Hippie. Er hat mehrere Künstlerbücher produziert und arbeitet häufig mit anderen Künstlern, wie Anne Daems, Harrell Fletcher, Dan Graham..., zusammen. Soloausstellungen bei Mehrwert Aachen (DE), Wolfsonian-FIU (USA), Elisa Platteau (BE), Komplot (BE); in Gruppenausstellungen wurden seine Arbeiten unter anderem gezeigt in der Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin (FR), in Objectif Exhibitions (BE) und im MOCA Miami (USA).
| nach www.nosbaumreding.lu, 2014

Kenneth Andrew Mroczek : When the Water Flows Children of the Earth will Dance and Sing