Anton Steenbock
BPA at Gropius Studios
Blooming Landscapes // Blühende Landschaften
Thrown onto the first floor of the Gropius Bau, across from the Berlin House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin), lie some objects which call to mind the public space of Berlin’s urban life. Our eyes are immediately drawn to the green scaffold standing upright in contrast to its surroundings; a reminder for the “Berliner” of the constant construction sites popping up everywhere in their city.
The exhibition is a statement about the ongoing drastic changes Berlin has been going through over recent years: from the transformation of its logo, to its aggressive start-up occupancy, and finally to its mass-produced, hip, new arts scene.
The art pieces are bridged together by their underlying link to the world of aspirations and dreams. Berlin, the modern phantasmagoric metropolitan, sells its diverse audience the fantasies they are striving for; be it the promise of the real estate advertisements in attaining the unattainable (Dream of the New Berlin Blue), the highly speculative nature of the start-ups (Angel Investor), or the lure of the arts to attract more capital assets (The Ornamental Hermit).
What tends to be neglected is that one light sweep of the broom (Untitled) shatters its whole façade (Eiertanz)! Read more
Text: Noushin Afzali
Anton Steenbock, Blühende Landschaften, exhibition view, BPA at Gropius Studios, 2020
Photo: Eric Bell
Bio
Anton Steenbock lives and works in Berlin and Rio de Janeiro. For the past ten years he established a fictitious real estate network called da Silva Brokers, operating in digital and public space. His interventions, consisting of fake architecture campaigns, showrooms and widely spread propaganda, were shown among others in solo exhibitions at the Museum for contemporary art MAC – Rio de Janeiro, the Centro Cultural de Sao Paulo and the Biennale SUR – Argentina.
Video
Blooming Landscapes // Blühende Landschaften
This one-minute video provides insights into Anton Steenbock’s work Blooming Landscapes // Blühende Landschaften, which the artist installed in the Gropius Bau’s gallery spaces in 2020.
