Matter Moves Mind

There are many reasons for the unrestrained destruction of nature. One of them is the way we treat matter. With their gallery and consulting agency Culturesphere, Ingrid Rügemer and Oliver Szasz draw attention to “the effective power of art, craft and design in the context of ecology and innovation.” The gallerists in Munich add: “The current global crises show that we need to fundamentally reconsider our ways of thinking and acting as individuals and as a society. Doing so, we must be aware that we do not act isolated from the physical world. Instead, our perceptions, emotions, social relationships and even our bodies are shaped by the material world that surrounds us, which thus has a significant impact on our thoughts and actions.”

Cara Murphy, Beach Bowls, series of vessels, forged from fine silver on Atlantic coast rocks.

Hence, there is a reciprocal relationship between matter and mind, which manifests in our material culture. Consequently, the things we create and surround ourselves with go far beyond form and function: they embody and reflect how we think. Artists and designers have always contributed to shaping material culture, which makes them important players in the context of transformative change.

Emmanuel Heringer, mural Baumhaut [tree skin], spruce bark, steel.

The new exhibition “Matter Moves Mind” presents five artists and designers who set inspiring impulses for a more sustainable material culture and encourage future-oriented perspectives. The Berlin-based jewelry artist and ethnologist Martina Dempf combines found objects and natural materials with traditional goldsmithing techniques.

Zena Holloway, Rootfull, wall object grown from wheatgrass roots.

Wood and silver arm jewelry by Martina Dempf. On view in the exhibition Matter Moves Mind at Culturesphere in Munich. © Martina Dempf.

Emmanuel Heringer from Schechen in Bavaria is a master of wickerwork, a craft that has become quite rare nowadays; the organic structures and surfaces of his large-format “pictures” made of peeled tree bark create spaces for meditation. Zena Holloway from London grows her textiles and wall objects from grass roots. Cara Murphy forges her silver bowls directly on the rocks of her homeland on the Atlantic coast of Northern Ireland, thus establishing a link between nature and craftsmanship. The colors and fractures of non-utilitarian objects by the ceramicist Jochen Rüth from Altisheim recall volcanism and the origin of life on Earth.