Ashes
Exhibition and Book Project in Cooperation with Friedhof Forum Zurich: Asche, und was vom Ende bleibt
September 5, 2020 - July 15, 2021
After cremation, not only ashes remain. But also things that do not burn, that do not disappear - even at over 1000° Celsius. They were once connected to the people they belonged to. Stripped of their original function and transformed by the heat, they become enigmatic objects from a distant universe, captured by photographer TINA RUISINGER.
With texts written especially for the exhibition by MERET GUT, MICHÈLE ROTEN, ANDREA FISCHER SCHULTHESS /ADRIAN SCHULTHESS, JÜRG HALTER and MAX KÜNG as well as a contribution to the exhibition by BARBARA BLEISCH.
Tina Ruisinger has used her camera to interrogate what remains of fifty people after cremation. As an archaeologist of the present, the artist searches the ashes for remnants of biographies, and the finds blossom before her lens into gems of enigmatic beauty.
Seven authors have been inspired by Ruisinger’s photographs, and at listening stations in the exhibition they reflect on a remnant of their choice: MAX KÜNG traces the history of a top-class golf club, MICHÈLE ROTHEN is inspired by a pocket knife to a mother-daughter dialogue, and with JÜRG HALTER a pair of glasses says goodbye to its former wearer. MERET GUT senses a sensual love story behind a small bell, ANDREA FISCHER SCHULTHESS and ADRIAN SCHULTHESS develop the idea for a moon fable on the basis of a worn-out watch back, and BARBARA BLEISCH points to the merits of our finiteness and to what nevertheless remains of us. (Presstext)
