The Metaphor of Growth

The Frankfurt Kunstverein, the Kunstverein Hannover and the Kunsthaus Baselland have assembled a group of artworks that deal with the phenomena of growth. They used these to create three separate exhibitions, each with a slightly different emphasis. The curators wished to scrutinize the concept of growth, its positive and negative connotations, and its significance in nature, society and economy. On one hand, growth represents a natural, organic process which includes blossoming and passing away. On the other, it serves a metaphorical function in an economic and social system which fails to recognize the principle of saturation or full-growth. The artworks examined biological cycles, models of utopian technologies and the problems of an expansive economy. The exhibitions have been accompanied by discussions based on the themes “Economic Growth and Crisis”, “Risks and Limits of Technological Progress” and “Information Technology and the Explosion of Knowledge”.

Artistic director: René Zechlin
Curators: Holger Kube Ventura, Sabine Schaschl (CH), René Zechlin
Artists: Michel Blazy (F), Max Bottini (CH), Mark Boulos (GB/NL), Peter Buggenhaut (BE), Armin Chodzinski, Dirk Fleischmann (KR), Ulrich Gebert, Tue Greenfort, San Keller (CH), Mika Rottenberg (USA), Ene-Liis Semper (EST), Pasquale Pennacchio & Marisa Argentato (I), Thomas Rentmeister, Reynold Reynolds (USA/D), Julika Rudelius (NL), Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger (CH), Superflex (DK), Sebastian Mundwiler (CH), Vik Muniz (BR), Franziska & Lois Weinberger (A), Andreas Zybach and others