»Associations«. Mind Art-projections for »My Newspaper« 2020

For Gerhard Johann Lischka the essence lies in the presence of a mind that knows about the entanglement of all things. Lischka's Mind Art projections zoom into the lifework of nearly 50 years of this exceptional artist. The interview will be conducted by Peter Weibel.

For the distinguished artist and cultural philosopher Gerhard Johann Lischka, the environment surrounding humankind is an inescapable element that conditions and shapes us. Lischka therefore focuses on the alert and observant monitoring of current events. The trains of thought that result constitute the fermentation agents and foundations of a new art form, which he calls Mind Art. The free and open thoughts, the constant movement of the mind, the thinking, which are summarized in highly diverse constellations of texts and images, are declared here as artistic practice and a receptive requirement – because Lischka's art can only be encountered with an alert state of mind: Everything is connected and interwoven with everything. This is why one of his most important shows is titled »Alles und noch viel mehr« [Everything and Much More] (Bern, 1985).

The title »Assoziationen« [Associations], refers both to the Mind Art projections and to the event organized by the ZKM | Karlsruhe. The title is most apposite because the Latin word »associare« means »to unite, connect, link, interlink.« The event, which will take place in the ZKM | Medialounge and online, will show the Mind Art projections that make it possible to literally zoom in on Lischka's encyclopedic work of the last 50 years, from A to Z, so to speak. At the same time it is also the framework for publishing the newspaper »Meine Zeitung« [My newspaper] 2020, designed by the artist and produced by the ZKM, which presents the artist's accurate analysis of the present day in images and texts – which he calls »writing pictures«.

In addition, the exhibition features a selection of interviews with and conducted by Lischka, including with Jean Baudrillard, Niklas Luhmann, Vilém Flusser, and Andy Warhol, as well as radio and television contributions conceived by the artist. A virtual conversation between Gerhard Johann Lischka and Peter Weibel, the artistic-scientific chairman of the ZKM, rounds off the presentation. The various contributions can be seen from 25.06.2020 to 02.08.2020 at the ZKM | Museum Balkony and most of them are also available online.