Photo: kvgb
Veronika Dräxler
Traces of Life / How to Kill
27 November 2022 – 29 January 2023
Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim is pleased to present "Traces of Life / How to Kill", a solo exhibition of new works by Veronika Dräxler. The exhibition takes the viewer to the northernmost reaches of Finland where, in the deepest of sub-zero temperatures and near to its border with Russia, the artist accompanies a hunter at work. The first in a three-part series of the same name, the film "Traces of Life / How to Kill" and its accompanying installation stake out the ground between the boundaries of nature and culture.
In this suite of works, Dräxler approaches the arctic landscape as a cultural phenomenon and considers the ways in which a greater force holds the power to structure its outcomes: to decide who or what can live, and by extension, what must perish in order to maintain its planned or so-called natural order. Hunting is one of the earliest practices to distinguish humans from animals, both in respect of the elaborate tools developed for the sole purpose of killing other beings, and the complexity of man’s strategies used in the hunt. In contrast to animals, human’s notions of spirituality, habitus, the tendency to glorify violence, and the desire to reinforce our own dominance over the natural world play a role.
Following experienced hunter Matti Keränen through the snowy landscape of Lapland as he makes his way across its vast expanse on cross-country skis, the film tracks his movements much like a hunter stalks its prey. The artist describes this as a filmic act of empathy with the performative aspects of hunting: the silence of tracking, the acceleration of the hunter’s breath when he sights his target, the concentration needed to aim, the emptiness after the shot. Dräxler’s role in the film is that of an oracle – a guide to the game – who like Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, determines its fate. Through this influence over the success or failure of the hunt, the artist positions herself in relation to the work of sociologist and philosopher Bruno Latour. His thesis is that the separation of nature and culture, as well as that between people and things, is non-existent. In Latour’s view, the introduction of this distinction characterizes modernity; however, it also creates an asymmetry between technology and society.
Exhibition programme:
Sat November 26, 2022, 6 pm
Opening
Sun November 27, 2022, 3 pm
Artist talk with Veronika Dräxler and Muriel Meyer (Curator and Artistic director)
Sun December 4, 2022, 4:30 pm
"Art for all": Johanna Balderhaar (an art teacher at the Lise Meitner secondary school and chairwoman of the Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim) will introduce the exhibition "Traces of Life / How to Kill". This format is intended for anyone curious about art, and who may not have had much contact with it up until now.
Sun January 15, 2022, 4:30 pm
"Art up platt": Johanna Balderhaar (an art teacher at the Lise Meitner secondary school and chairwoman of the Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim) will introduce the exhibition "Traces of Life / How to Kill". This format is intended for anyone curious about the exhibition, and who likes to speak the language Platt.
Sun January 29, 2022, 3 pm
Curators’ tour with Muriel Meyer (Artistic director and curator)
Followed by a moderated discussion "Killing, Art and Hunting" with the guests: Dr. Laura Beck (University of Bremen), Veronika Dräxler (artist), Reinhold Gosejacob (District Hunting Master), Sarah Kaufhold (taxidermist).
This event will be held in German language.
This exhibition and the programme are supported by the Stiftung Niedersachsen, the Niedersächsische Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, and the Stadt- und Samtgemeinde Neuenhaus. The film production was financed by the Bayerische Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst.
Visitor note
The video installation and environment is activated at the following times:
Every Friday 4pm
Every Sunday 3pm & 4:30pm
As well as by appointment: info@kvgb.de or +49 5941 98019
Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim
Hauptstraße 37
49828 Neuenhaus
Traces of Life / How to Kill
27 November 2022 – 29 January 2023
Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim is pleased to present "Traces of Life / How to Kill", a solo exhibition of new works by Veronika Dräxler. The exhibition takes the viewer to the northernmost reaches of Finland where, in the deepest of sub-zero temperatures and near to its border with Russia, the artist accompanies a hunter at work. The first in a three-part series of the same name, the film "Traces of Life / How to Kill" and its accompanying installation stake out the ground between the boundaries of nature and culture.
In this suite of works, Dräxler approaches the arctic landscape as a cultural phenomenon and considers the ways in which a greater force holds the power to structure its outcomes: to decide who or what can live, and by extension, what must perish in order to maintain its planned or so-called natural order. Hunting is one of the earliest practices to distinguish humans from animals, both in respect of the elaborate tools developed for the sole purpose of killing other beings, and the complexity of man’s strategies used in the hunt. In contrast to animals, human’s notions of spirituality, habitus, the tendency to glorify violence, and the desire to reinforce our own dominance over the natural world play a role.
Following experienced hunter Matti Keränen through the snowy landscape of Lapland as he makes his way across its vast expanse on cross-country skis, the film tracks his movements much like a hunter stalks its prey. The artist describes this as a filmic act of empathy with the performative aspects of hunting: the silence of tracking, the acceleration of the hunter’s breath when he sights his target, the concentration needed to aim, the emptiness after the shot. Dräxler’s role in the film is that of an oracle – a guide to the game – who like Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, determines its fate. Through this influence over the success or failure of the hunt, the artist positions herself in relation to the work of sociologist and philosopher Bruno Latour. His thesis is that the separation of nature and culture, as well as that between people and things, is non-existent. In Latour’s view, the introduction of this distinction characterizes modernity; however, it also creates an asymmetry between technology and society.
Exhibition programme:
Sat November 26, 2022, 6 pm
Opening
Sun November 27, 2022, 3 pm
Artist talk with Veronika Dräxler and Muriel Meyer (Curator and Artistic director)
Sun December 4, 2022, 4:30 pm
"Art for all": Johanna Balderhaar (an art teacher at the Lise Meitner secondary school and chairwoman of the Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim) will introduce the exhibition "Traces of Life / How to Kill". This format is intended for anyone curious about art, and who may not have had much contact with it up until now.
Sun January 15, 2022, 4:30 pm
"Art up platt": Johanna Balderhaar (an art teacher at the Lise Meitner secondary school and chairwoman of the Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim) will introduce the exhibition "Traces of Life / How to Kill". This format is intended for anyone curious about the exhibition, and who likes to speak the language Platt.
Sun January 29, 2022, 3 pm
Curators’ tour with Muriel Meyer (Artistic director and curator)
Followed by a moderated discussion "Killing, Art and Hunting" with the guests: Dr. Laura Beck (University of Bremen), Veronika Dräxler (artist), Reinhold Gosejacob (District Hunting Master), Sarah Kaufhold (taxidermist).
This event will be held in German language.
This exhibition and the programme are supported by the Stiftung Niedersachsen, the Niedersächsische Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, and the Stadt- und Samtgemeinde Neuenhaus. The film production was financed by the Bayerische Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst.
Visitor note
The video installation and environment is activated at the following times:
Every Friday 4pm
Every Sunday 3pm & 4:30pm
As well as by appointment: info@kvgb.de or +49 5941 98019
Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim
Hauptstraße 37
49828 Neuenhaus
