Thomas Behling: "Universum Clock – Die Stimmen der Verstorbenen", 2021
47 x 31 x 21 cm
"Ich verzichte gerne auf die Zukunft unserer Kinder." – "I am happy to give up my children's future."
In times of climate change, I am also practicing renunciation.
Image objects by Thomas Behling
In many of his pictorial objects, Thomas Behling deals with the destruction of our planet, which threatens the existence of us humans and our culture. If we carry on like this, we will trigger processes in our environment that we will no longer be able to stop. Once the tipping point has been passed, the climate will heat up in a self-accelerating manner - followed by a far-reaching decline of humanity. Unless, of course, we manage to achieve a comprehensive social, cultural and economic transformation in time and at maximum speed.
Theoretically, we have more opportunities today to solve our problems than ever before in human history. If we do not utilise these opportunities now, our options for action will very soon dwindle and humanity will be increasingly driven by catastrophe. Despite this knowledge, we find it very difficult to change our behaviour. There are various reasons for this. We find ourselves in an existential cultural crisis.
In order to find a way out of this situation, something has to change in our way of thinking. It is probably different from the way we imagine it and not the way we are used to thinking. We certainly think and act differently than we perceive ourselves.
The present is a product of history and a continuation of the past. We need to broaden our horizon of thought in this way in order to better recognise the weight of our actions. Thomas Behling sees it as his task as an artist to create works that contribute to a reflection on our situation. In his pictorial objects modelled on historical finds, the viewer encounters a collective memory with its individual memories and their specific filters and amplifiers. He uses outdated visual aesthetics because they conceal much more of our current world view and thinking than we realise and agree with. Supposed remnants of an earlier time lead straight into the crises and conflict zones of the present. He takes up aspects of deception and invention in order to illustrate how illusion works and to gain insight into appearance, deception and transfiguration.
Vernissage: Thursday 3 April 2025, 5 - 8 pm, introduction by Andrea S. Végh
Duration: 3 April to 10 May 2025
Finissage: Saturday 10 May 2025, 12 - 4 pm, artist talk with Heinz Stahlhut at 1 pm
Galerie Eulenspiegel
Gerbergässlein 6
4001 Basel
Switzerland
Opening hours:
Wednesday-Friday 10 am - 12 / 2 pm - 6 pm
Saturday 10 am - 4 pm
Free admission