This is why an artist is flooding the Bremerhaven art gallery with water from the River Weser

Standing date: 28. November 2021.

Authors:
Joshka Schmidt and Patrick Florinkowski

As of today, Kunsthalle der Seestadt shows an amazing makeup. For this purpose, the Bremerhaven scholarship holder, Aurel Dalgrun, poured thousands of liters of water into the hall.

Always the breadth of your hand from the water under the keel – with this saying good luck on the coast. An artist in Bremerhaven has now explained that the width of the water in his hand is slightly different. As for the gallery, the art gallery is flooded without further ado—with the help of firefighters. “Tide” is the name of the show that starts on Sunday.

How did the water from Weser enter the art gallery

The fire brigade carried about 5,000 liters of water to the art gallery. It is freshly pumped from the mouth of the Weser River and transported by a fire truck. And then: the water is on! Water flows through a hose and is pumped to the first floor of the brick building.

We flood the hall. This sounds brutal. We’ll be able to get into the hall farther, but we’ve got a lot of space with the water. A kind of mirror on the floor, allowing the Kunsthalle space to be viewed in a completely different way.

Klaus Becky, Curator, Kunstveren Bremerhaven

While concept artist Aurel Dalgrun and his team wait upstairs in the hall, Turbin Jarmes and Michael Iroldt of the Bremerhaven Fire Brigade stand below and organize the water supply. Unusual mission of firefighters. But they are happy to do the 31-year-old a favor. “Culture and research are so important, we all benefit from it,” Jarmes says. “This is different from saving people.”

International Artist with Bremerhaven Scholarship

Dahlgrün was born in Berlin, raised in Sweden, lived in Brazil, and studied art in Düsseldorf. He has been working at Seestadt for a few months now. Received a one-year Bremerhaven scholarship from Kunstverein. Tide is his first on-site exhibition. For the Kunsthalle flood, it was inspired by the tides.

It’s a bit like a tide tide: When I was taking pictures with my drone, I noticed that when the water rushes away, the structures in the sand appear quite dramatic.

Aurel Dalgrun, artist

He hopes for the same for his water fixtures. If it evaporates over time, patterns should develop here as well. “When the water recedes, crystal structures and abstract shapes become unpredictably visible.” Depending on what time the visitor comes, he will see a different picture.

Water is Dahlgrün’s big topic. That is why he not only floods the hall for his exhibition, but also displays various images and works on paper in one room – all with reference to Weser. “It was important for me to work with the materials that I can find here on the site.” Tide can be seen at the art gallery in Bremerhaven until mid-January. Then the water is fed back to Weser.

Photo: Armin Colpley

This topic is in the program:
Bremen Ainz, Weekend from Bremerhaven, November 28, 2021, 10am.