DIPOLM 'breathing city' // Julian Rappenglück

The exhibition explores the idea of a signal that cities emit upon first contact — a sensual notion of being. Comparable to what Walter Benjamin called the aura. This signal arises from an interplay of social parameters, pop- and subculture, a globalized society, history and politics just to name a few. The process of reception is subjective, never under conscious control. The geographical origin remains unknown.

I attempt to bridge the gap between physicality, metaphysicality, and personal perception in urban contexts. Reflections, particularly on the cities of Braunschweig, Milan, and Munich, are given a tangible space to explore. The works in the exhibition serve as mediators for each other and play with the embodiment of the phenomenon described earlier.

In a time of capitalistic overproduction and manipulation by social media, I also want to question the value of Images we encounter. By working with discarded materials from the city’s streets I aim to examine at what point a "devalued" object appears in a new light of worth? Where do processes of transformation begin? What can an artistic engagement with obsolete matter look like and what brings them back into a living context?