Exhibition Text

„Erde“ exhibition in Berlin /June 2020 Earth is the foundation of all life; and everything that spawns from it must eventually return to its soil. From the midst of this cycle of becoming and transience, the exhibition “Erde” by Illya Goldman Gubin under the former atelier name „97cm“ sets out to explore and reflect on timeless questions: Where are we coming from? Where are we going? What are the possibilities and conditions of creation? What can we learn from nature and how can we integrate this knowledge into our modern lives? The exhibition is not providing definitive answers; rather, it conceives of the artworks as spiritual and sensory encounters. The concept of an eternal point of origin from which creation flows forms the central motif of “Erde“. Earth, therefore, has two meanings: it is an originary world, our home planet, a giant machine providing the possibility of life. In addition, it is the soil teeming with life - a plane of immanence that is the condition of creation. „Ursprung /Erde“, a crater filled with soil and water is thus the centerpiece from which the other works are created. The soil itself is sourced from Berlin, Germany, its unique composition and richness both a testament to its interconnected location in the world and a symbol for the diversity of creation. The water in the crater is a reflective surface that looks back at the viewer, emphasizing the connectedness to nature. The series of artworks featured in the exhibition, then, provoke visitors to feel for an essence rather than to simply observe a form. Connecting to the earth, visitors are invited to reflect on the deep, murky depths of our common origin and consider its formless simplicity. In so doing, they are able to reduce the psycho- logical distance between individual things, realizing the arbitrariness of boundaries, and rediscovering themselves within the other. As a result, “Erde” encourages visitors to reconcile the originary world with the modernity of everyday life. The art exhibition “Erde” marks the beginning of a new episode in Illya Goldman Gubin’s oeuvre that will focus on the exploration of time, nature, and the elements.