Good Space Communities of the Promise of Hapiness. A catalog by Villa Merkel Esslingen

Good Space is a playfully sensory and experi­entially intensive exhibition essay, focusing on the formation of communities from perspectives of contemporary art. The cohesion of societies is characterized by a unifying element and an aspect of delimitation and exclusion. The question as to what constitutes the sense of we is loaded with explosive power, so the works of art navigate along power structures with an eye to the grave, pervasive consequences of colonialism. Configurations of space and time, in which technology and spirituality intersect, also come into play. The works question the idea that our life is free, self-determined, and filled with possibilities of self-fulfillment and happiness; they call for an unconditional respect for the rights of animals and shed light on the connection between culture and nature by inspecting plant communities; they witness paradoxical scenes in residential concepts of buildings designed by Brutalism; they direct our attention to the fact that films engender vivid communal experiences not just in the screening room as we ­accompany the tiny, isolated community of the crew on a submarine. The exhibition essay conceives of itself as the call for a cooperative stance character­ized by curiosity, respect, and mutual esteem, one which constantly redefines needs and negotiates differences. In 2016 Good Space dealt with space and wasteland; now, Good Space enters into the question how to vitalize this space and how communities function. 

Andreas Baur is director of the Städtische Galerie Villa Merkel in Esslingen. He edited and wrote critical essays for many monographic catalogs. Julia Herrmann is curator of the collection of Villa Merkel in Esslingen. Johannes Kaufmann is scientific trainee at Villa Merkel in Esslingen.