MICHAEL HÖPFNER – MAGDA DROZD – STAY WITH ME
The Mountain as a Space of Resonance
Curated by Andrea Lerda
The exhibition, an unprecedented production part of the Museum’s Sustainability Programme, brings together the work of Viennese walking artist Michael Höpfner and Zurich-based sound artist Magda Drozd. Stay with Me is realized with the support of the Città di Torino, Regione Piemonte, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Camera di Commercio di Torino, Phileas – The Austrian Office for Contemporary Art (Vienna), Austria’s Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport, Kultur Niederösterreich, the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, the Elisabeth Jenny Foudation (Riehen).
Taking its cue from the book Resonance. A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World, by German sociologist Hartmut Rosa, the exhibition explores the concept of resonance. Not in the sense of total harmony but as a dynamic relationship wherein subject and world touch each other to stimulate vibrancy and mutual transformation.
Putting aside the contemplative vision of the mountain and favouring a speculative approach to being-with-the-mountain, the exhibition questions the possibility of considering the resonant relationship as a transformative and ameliorative experience in the dialogue between human and non-human, at this time of “climate collapse”, as defined by UN Secretary General António Guterres..
The exhibition presents the works of artist Magda Drozd and walking artist Michael Höpfner, produced especially for this project, which originated from Höpfner
’s walks in the Alps and Drozd’s field recordings in the cross-border territories between Italy and France.
The works provide an unprecedented experience of the mountain, in which access to its fruition beyond what is known and rational appears to be fundamental.
The artists open themselves up to the fleeting and the unpredictable, interpreting the relationship with the mountains from an abstract standpoint. The experience of the exhibition invites visitors to enter a profound metaphysical dimension in which essence, attention and disenchantment are prerequisites for a different way of experiencing the present time.
Stay with Me. The Mountain as a Space of Resonance is the starting point of a broader project titled Stay with Me I A Whole Growing Exhibition. This will take shape late in 2023 and throughout 2024 thanks to the support of the Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo. The initiative aims to explore walking through a multifocal perspective through a series of public events including panels, workshops and artistic events.
The months-long exploration of this concept will come together in an exhibition titled A Walking Mountain, which will be presented in November 2024.
Find out more about the works in the exhibition. Read the descriptive room sheet. Click HERE.
