from the case study MACHINA MUNDI / REIGN OF REASON
18 JANUARY 2024
9 p.m.
Built on the Backs of Others / Die Landschaft Venedigs im Anthropozän
[Screening & talk in German]
Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften
100 Jahre Studienstiftung – Aus Begabung Zukunft machen
Taubenschlag (5. OG)
Host:
Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes e.V.
[German Academic Scholarship Foundation]
in the framework of
SALON SOPHIE CHARLOTTE
“Metamorphosen”
18 JANUARY 2024
6 p.m. – 12 p.m.
Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Akademiegebäude am Gendarmenmarkt
Markgrafenstraße 38
Berlin
In a lecture performance, I will showcase photos and videos from my ongoing case study, MACHINA MUNDI / REIGN OF REASON. Set against the backdrop of the Venetian lagoon's human-made landscapes, this project connects colonial history with the contemporary challenges posed by the Anthropocene. Please scroll down for further information.
Thanks a lot to Dr. Julia Apitzsch-Haack for the invitation!
3 December 2024
BAUHAUS MASTER LECTURE: AXEL BRAUN
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Visuelle Kommunikation
Fotostudio, Limona
Weimar
I will present excerpts from my long-term project, DISTURBED HARMONIES [Anthropocene Landscapes], as well as work in progress from my current case studies.
Thanks a lot to Pio Rahner for inviting me!
Mount Ushba, 2024, UltraHD video (still)
Geno Pipia from Jvari talks about the hunting goddess known as Tkashmapha in the Samegrelo region and Dali in Svaneti.
FullHD video (still), 2024
Enguri Dam, 2024, UltraHD video (still)
work in progress
THE CASCADE / ISLAND OF PEACE
In October, I had the chance to continue working on the case study I started last year in Georgia.
The project contextualises an iconic dam from Soviet times with Caucasian mythology. A central theme is a hunting goddess whose memory is kept alive in tales, songs, and dances. Hunters fear her merciless punishment for unsustainable greed. Her archaic myths form a shared cultural heritage in a region ridden with conflict.
A travel grant from the Artists’ Contacts (Künstlerkontakte) programme of the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa) funded the research trip.
20 November 2024
ARTIST TALK: AXEL BRAUN
The artist and photographer in conversation with Petra Schaefer
in context of
ARTE LAGUNA PRIZE
Arsenale Nord
Venice
Thank you, Petra Schaefer, for the invitation!
RESIDENCY IN VENICE
From 1 April to 30 June, I have had the honour and pleasure of being an artist in residence at the Centro Tedesco di Studi Veneziani. My time in Venice has been inspiring and intense. I have advanced well in my project, MACHINA MUNDI / REIGN OF REASON. In addition to a rich collection of information and visuals, I took home many unforgettable memories.
During my residence, I received a scholarship from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. I am also very grateful for a project grant from the Dr. Christiane Hackerodt Kunst—und Kulturstiftung. I want to use this opportunity to thank Dr. PD Richard Erkens and Petra Schaefer from Centro Tedesco for trusting and supporting my work. Petra’s incredible network and relentless efforts have made many wishes a reality. Furthermore, I want to thank all institutions that granted me access to their holdings and collections, as well as my co-fellows who gave me so much inspiring input during our conversations.
Sound and documentation: Martin Daske
A video documentation of my talk at Centro Tedesco di Studi Veneziani | Deutsches Studienzentrum in Venedig on 26 June 2024 can be accessed on YouTube (German & Italian).
26 June 2024
6 p.m.
ARTIST TALK: AXEL BRAUN
The artist and photographer in conversation with Petra Schaefer, with an introduction by Richard Erkens
Centro Tedesco di Studi Veneziani | Deutsches Studienzentrum in Venedig
Palazzo Barbarigo della Terrazza,
San Polo 2765/A, Calle Corner
Venice
19 June 2024
5 p.m. – 7 p.m.
DISTURBED HARMONIES [ANTHROPOCENE LANDSCAPES]
Main Hall, Ca’ Bottacin
Dorsoduro 3911
Calle Crosera
Venice
I will present my long-term project in the framework of the ART ECOLOGIES series of the New Institute Center for Environmental Humanities (NICHE) at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
.
Thanks so much to Cristina Baldacci (DFBC, NICHE) and Noemi Quagliati (DFBC, NICHE) for inviting me.
Abstract:
DISTURBED HARMONIES [Anthropocene Landscapes] is a long-term research project by the Essen-based artist Axel Braun, which consists of a growing collection of case studies about controversial infrastructures and threatened ecosystems. Combining historical analysis and found footage with new photographic and video production, Braun reflects on the ecological and social consequences of an ever-expanding technosphere. His artistic practice reveals how human-altered landscapes become unintended monuments of creative (self-)destruction within the Anthropocene epoch.
Braun will present a selection of examples from DISTURBED HARMONIES, including the new series MACHINA MUNDI/ REIGN OF REASON, and will introduce the work developed during his residency at the Deutsches Studienzentrum in Venedig, which links the colonial history of Venice with contemporary challenges for the lagoon as a built environment.
Organized by NICHE, Deutsches Studienzentrum in Venedig
Places are limited. Please register here.
I had the honour to contribute to this print publication:
Sammlung Kunsthaus NRW
A–Z Kunst in NRW 2000–2023
Marcel Schumacher, Elke Kania (concept)
Marcel Schumacher (ed)
funded by Ministry for Culture and Science of the federal state of North Rhine–Westphalia
Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2024
ISBN: 978-3-422-80123-3
Two of my works are presented in the pleasant company of many great colleagues. I want to thank Ulrich Schneider for contributing an introduction.
GLAD TO BE PART OF THIS!
Standort Freigabe
Spacing (ed),
Bremen: Verlag Marian Arnd, 2024
ISBN 978-3-948927-53-0
Documentation of the activities of SPACING [formerly ERLKÖNIG]: an exhibition project initiated by Pio Rahner in Bremen in 2015.
At the peak of the first COVID lockdown in 2020, Pio invited me to participate in an exhibition in public space. SICHTEN presented photographs of views through windows on advertising displays throughout Bremen. I contributed a photo from my project DENN ES GIBT DEN FORTSCHRITT! [Because progress exists!] from 2011. Thanks a lot to Pio for the invitation, Mira Anneli Naß for the introduction, and everybody involved in making this happen!
Landscapes as Archives and Monuments
Recently, I published an essay with a selection of photographs in BERG2025, the yearbook of the Alpine Associations of Austria, Germany, and South Tyrol. Axel Klemmer edited this yearbook, which is thematically focused on photography. Thank you for the invitation!
My essay offers examples from the history of landscape representation and its impact on collective imaginations and ideals. How do they relate to the reality of landscapes in the Anthropocene? Please email me for more information.
Axel Braun, “Berührt und berührend – Schwindende Sehnsuchtsorte im Bild: Landschaften als Archive und Monumente menschlichen Handelns“
in:
Deutscher Alpenverein, Österreichischer Alpenverein, Südtiroler Alpenverein (eds), Alpenvereinsjahrbuch BERG2025
Band 149 – BergFokus Fotografieren
Innsbruck: Tyrolia-Verlag, 2024, pp.96-103
ISBN 978-3-7022-4238-1
The publication is available at your local bookshop and in the online shop of Tyrolia-Verlag.
