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Münster or Monster?

18 August 2017

Our first visit to Münster and I already feel that it is a quest to discover new and wonderful things. 

Münster or Monster?
First stop was Pierre Huyghe’s futuristic ‘biotope’. It was a little perplexing with strange phenomenona all around, Bees in earth hives, light wells opening and closing, a glass fish tank that went between opaque and see through revealing some very strange looking fish, crabs and a venomous sea snail or two. The work occupied in a disused ice rink, with an incubator growing cancer cells and a touch of archaic augmented reality that caused more consternation that interest. Perhaps that was the point?
Münster or Monster?
On our visit there were no Chimera Peacocks as they did not want to be involved in the very weird and strange experiment. Apparently they spent the first two days of the exhibition hiding up on the window ledges. We were walking around in dirt and mud trying to work it all out. I found the project incredibly ambitious and hugely impressive, there was so much effort made to create affective natural phenomenon.
Münster or Monster?
Next we traipsed the streets looking for Münster commissions old and new - we found this interesting set of lights by Aram Bartholl - LED’s being powered by candle light.
Münster or Monster?
Mika Rottenberg’s fantastical future feature started in a disused Asian food and fancy goods shop where stacked with the fake eggs and paper lanterns there were prepper packs of food supplies – enough slop in one bucket to last a whole month!
Münster or Monster?
The work was a loop with a vendor in a Mexican border town street selling food allowing passing people to peep into all the pots which would somehow connect to an Asian market with bored women swamped in plastic products clicking away at their phones, connecting pipes to collect water or some other liquid - it was a further development on the work in Athens mentioned previously in the diary. Her work was certainly a highlight for us.