1. Rebecca Horn, Tower of the Nameless, 1994, Exhibition view, Haus der Kunst München, 2024, Photo: Markus Tretter, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024
A Dance with machines: the Horn retrospective at HDK
Rebecca Horn’s oeuvre explores the intersections between the human body, technology, and nature. While this comprehensive retrospective, curated by Jana Baumann and Radia Soukni, spans six decades of Horn’s groundbreaking work.
It is an ambitious undertaking, one that celebrate her artistic achievements but also to provoke critical reflection on the themes that pervade into her work. In this exhibition, Horn's art is more than just a visual experience, it is a choreographic journey that invites the viewer to engage with the philosophical questions that her work raises.
The body as a choreographic instrument
Rebecca Horn has always viewed the human body as more than a mere vessel, it's in her words a "precisely calculated relationship" between space, light, sound, and rhythm. This view is evident from her earliest works on paper in the 1960s to the expansive installations of the 1990s.
The exhibition opens with the newly digitized film footage of Horn’s early performances, a deliberate choice that underscores her self-identification as a choreographer.
The first section of the exhibition presents these early performances, which serve as the foundation of her artistic inquiry. In works like "Overflowing Blood Machine" (1970) and "Measure Box" (1970), Horn explores the boundaries between the human and the machine. The performances, often featuring Horn herself, blur the lines between the animate and the inanimate, challenging the viewer to question the limits of the human body. These works, which focus on the physicality and vulnerability of the body, are not just about movement; they are about the body’s relationship to space, its ability to occupy and transform it.
Machines and the mechanisation of the body
2. Rebecca Horn, The Peacock Machine, 1982, Exhibition view, Haus der Kunst München, 2024, Photo: Markus Tretter, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024
Horn’s fascination with the mechanization of the body is further explored in the second section of the exhibition, which showcases her mechanical sculptures from the 1980s. Here, the viewer is introduced to works like "The Peacock Machine" (1982), a kinetic sculpture that mimics the courtship display of a peacock. This work, like many others in this section, reflects Horn’s ongoing interest in the intersection of nature and technology.
In "The Peacock Machine", Horn stages a choreography between the organic and the mechanical, creating a visual spectacle that is both mesmerizing and unsettling. The repetitive motion of the machine, reminiscent of industrial production processes, raises questions about the dehumanization of the body in a technologically driven world.
This theme is echoed in works like "Kiss of the Rhinoceros" (1989), where Horn visualizes sexual energy through the interaction of motorized metal rods, again blurring the lines between human and machine, sensuality and cold mechanics.
Immersive installations and the de-centering of the humanity
The 1990s marked a significant shift in Horn’s work, as she moved towards creating expansive installations that envelop the viewer in a sensory experience. The third section of the exhibition highlights these immersive works, which are characterized by their scale and their ability to engage multiple senses simultaneously.
"Inferno" (1993), a towering installation of metal hospital beds and electrically charged glass tubes, is a powerful exploration of the human condition. Inspired by Dante’s "Divine Comedy", this work delves into the themes of suffering, powerlessness, and the fragile nature of existence. The absence of bodies in this installation, combined with the menacing presence of the electrically charged wires, creates a sense of unease, forcing the viewer to confront their own mortality.
Similarly "The Tower of the Nameless" (1994), an installation of wooden ladders and violins, explores the culture of memory and the impact of historical traumas. The repetitive, multi-layered sounds produced by the motorized violins evoke feelings of sadness and powerlessness, transforming the mechanical into the emotional. In these works, Horn deconstructs the traditional role of the human in art, instead placing the focus on the interplay between technology, space, and memory.
3. Rebecca Horn, Circle for Broken Landscape, 1997, Exhibition view, Haus der Kunst München, 2024, Photo: Markus Tretter, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024
The final section of the exhibition delves into Horn’s later works, where she continues to explore the themes of transformation and the interconnectedness of all living things. In "Hydra Piano" (1995), for example, Horn uses mercury, a substance traditionally associated with alchemy, to create a work that is both visually striking and rich in symbolic meaning. The mercury, set in motion by electrical impulses, becomes a metaphor for the fluid boundaries between the material and the spiritual, the natural and the artificial.
Horn’s use of alchemical symbolism is not just a nod to ancient practices; it is a critique of modernity and its attempts to control and categorize the natural world. In works like "Circle for Broken Landscape" (1997), Horn questions the human drive to dominate nature, presenting instead a vision of interconnectedness that challenges hierarchical thinking.
As the exhibition draws to a close, the viewer is left to reflect on the enduring relevance of Horn’s work. Her exploration of the body, technology, and nature resonates strongly in today’s world, where the boundaries between the organic and the artificial are increasingly blurred. Horn’s work challenges us to rethink our relationship with the world around us, to question the systems of power and control that shape our lives.
However, the exhibition also raises critical questions about the role of art in addressing these issues. While Horn’s work is undeniably powerful, there is a risk that its aestheticization of suffering and dehumanization could overshadow the very issues it seeks to critique. The beauty of her mechanical sculptures, the elegance of her installations, can sometimes make it easy to forget the darker themes that underpin them. This tension between form and content is perhaps the most significant challenge posed by Horn’s work, and one that the exhibition does not fully address.
The Rebecca Horn retrospective at Haus der Kunst is a masterful presentation of one of the most important artists of our time. It is a journey through six decades of artistic innovation, a dance between the human and the machine, the natural and the artificial. Yet, it is also a reminder of the complexities and contradictions inherent in any artistic exploration of these themes. As we navigate the spaces Horn has created, we are invited not just to observe, but to engage—to question our own perceptions, our own roles in the choreographies of power that shape our world.
Informations about the exhibition
Place: Haus der Kunst
Date: 26.04.2024 – 13.10.2024
Curators: Jana Baumann and Radia Soukni
Ticket: Available at the front desk of the museum
Informations about the Haus der Kunst
Haus der Kunst
Prinzregentenstrasse 1
D-80538 Munich
Phone: +49 89 211 27 113
Mail: mail@hausderkunst.de