BERLIN.- Can social, economic, and political phenomena such as economic crisis, migration, wars, or even crime be understood through the prisms of natural sciences, e.g. through the concept of osmosis? And can one deliberate on these phenomena in the context of art?

The news headlines in the last 3 years have been captured by the realities of the economic crisis in Europe, currently threatening to spread out yonder like a wild bush fire, as one country becomes bankrupt after the other. This crisis has created a yawning gap of inequality between countries that once upon a time had equal rights within the EU. This also holds true for social inequalities due to discrepancies in wealth, class, race, or gender. This imbalance, sooner or later, might lead to an osmotic process, whereby a less concentrated 'medium' flows through a 'semipermeable membrane' into a more concentrated 'medium' until concentration equilibrium is attained. And what if this natural struggle to obtain equality is suppressed? Since time immemorial, human beings have been moving from A to B in search of greener pastures, following the laws of osmosis.

The exhibition project Positioning Osmotic Impulses invites 22 artists from five continents working with installations, photography, sound art, performances, and film, to occupy 30 cells and the courtyard of a former prison in Berlin Neukölln.

These artists who work at the interface between art and architecture, art and science and technology, art and critical theories are invited to come to grips with the concept of osmosis, to question the hypothesis, find new common denominators, and new connections with their artistic expression.

The exhibition does not aim to illustrate concepts or to answer questions, but the artists are invited to explore their own works and existing practices with regards to the contexts of the issues raised.

Artists
Abrie Fourie (ZA) / Anne Duk Hee Jordan (DE/KR) / Brandon LaBelle (US) / Darri Lorenzen (IS) / Fernanda Trevellin (BR) / Gabriel Acevedo Velarde (PE) / Marc Bijl (NL) / Juan Duque (CO) / Azin Feizabadi (IR) / Nathalie Bikoro (GA) / Jennis Li Cheng Tien (TW) / Emeka Okereke (NG) / Tere Recarens (ES) / Julia Prezewowsky (DE) / Surya Gied (KR/DE) & Angelo Wemmje (DE) / Ariel Reichman (ZA/IL) / Yassine Balbzioui (MA) / Eliana Heredia (AR/IT) / Maya Schweizer (FR) / Michael Zheng (CN/US) / Anna Anderegg (CH) / Balz Isler (CH)