11.05.26

DEMOKRATEA-TIME – ART AS A PRACTICE OF DEMOCRACY

posted by PREVIEW.SÜD

DemokraTEA-Time – Art as a Practice of Democracy German Eco-Artist Renate Helene Schweizer Solo-Exhibition at Quartier Zukunft – Urban Lab, Karlsruhe, Germany In May 2026, the experimental space of Quartier Zukunft – Labor Stadt in Karlsruhe becomes a site of encounter, reflection, and artistic intervention. Under the title “DemokraTEA-Time,” artist Renate Helene Schweizer presents an exhibition that extends far beyond the format of a conventional show. The project marks a significant milestone: 20 years of artistic work using used tea bags as a primary material. Developed over two decades, this practice has evolved into a distinctive form of eco-art that merges aesthetics with global, social, and ecological narratives.  ⸻ Material as a Global Language At first glance, a used tea bag appears trivial—ephemeral, disposable. In Schweizer’s work, however, it becomes a carrier of memory, labor, and interconnectedness. Since 2005, she has collected and transformed thousands of these everyday remnants into: * large-scale installations * sculptural objects * participatory artworks The tea bag functions as a metaphor for: * global trade and supply chains * cultural rituals and shared practices * social and economic inequalities * ecological impact and resource consumption Through this material, Schweizer renders visible the hidden infrastructures of globalization—turning the overlooked into a poetic and political medium. ⸻ Art Embedded in Societal Transformation The exhibition’s setting is crucial. Quartier Zukunft – Labor Stadt is not a traditional gallery, but a real-world laboratory operated within the context of sustainability research and civic participation. It brings together citizens, scientists, policymakers, and institutions to explore new models of urban life.  Within this framework, art is not presented as an isolated object but as an active agent in societal transformation. “DemokraTEA-Time” is embedded in national initiatives such as: * “Cohesion in Diversity” * German Democracy Day This positioning situates Schweizer’s work within urgent contemporary debates around: * democracy and participation * diversity and coexistence * sustainable futures ⸻ The Artist: Eco-Art as Social Practice Renate Helene Schweizer is an interdisciplinary artist working at the intersection of art, ecology, and social engagement. Her practice is grounded in a radical zero-waste philosophy, developed long before sustainability became a dominant discourse in contemporary art. Her work includes: * immersive installations and spatial interventions * participatory and community-based projects * international collaborations across cultures and generations Projects such as her long-term “Weltenbürger” (Global Citizen) series demonstrate how individual contributions—like a single tea bag—can become part of a larger, interconnected structure. Her approach resonates with expanded notions of art as social sculpture: art not merely as an object, but as a process that shapes relationships, awareness, and collective experience. ⸻ DemokraTEA-Time as an Artistic Intervention Rather than functioning as a retrospective, “DemokraTEA-Time” operates as an open and participatory format. Visitors are invited to: * engage in dialogue * reflect on societal conditions * experience themselves as part of a shared global fabric The title itself is programmatic: Democracy is not represented—it is enacted. Through acts of gathering, sharing, and conversation, the exhibition creates a space where art becomes a lived democratic practice. ⸻ Aesthetic of Connection In a time marked by polarization and fragmentation, Schweizer’s work proposes an alternative paradigm: connection instead of division. Her installations demonstrate: * how discarded materials can generate new meaning * how individual actions are embedded in global systems * how art can create spaces for dialogue and empathy “DemokraTEA-Time” ultimately reveals the potential of art to act—not only as reflection, but as intervention. ⸻ Conclusion With “DemokraTEA-Time,” Renate Helene Schweizer articulates a precise and timely position within contemporary art: A practice that is * ecologically conscious * socially engaged * and democratically operative In collaboration with Quartier Zukunft – Labor Stadt, the exhibition becomes a compelling example of how art today can function simultaneously as: aesthetic practice, social catalyst, and a vision for the future.

01.05.26

ABSOLUT BLOCK

posted by Ivan Godfrey

This was painted at the same time as 'Laid Back City' in Perth, Western Australia. Could be obtained as a pair with that work or singly. Acrylic on Canvas panel. 36'' x 24''. Over frame 37'' x 25''. Available. Located in England.

01.05.26

MATERIAL AS METHOD: ON THE REDEFINITION OF VALUE, AUTHORSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY IN CONTEMPORARY ART

posted by PREVIEW.SÜD

Material as Method: The Practice of German Artist Renate Helene Schweizer On the Redefinition of Value, Authorship and Responsibility in Contemporary Art One of the persistent blind spots in contemporary art lies in the conflation of material and value. Judgments continue to be shaped by inherited hierarchies that privilege rarity, permanence and production, while overlooking practices that operate through reuse, circulation and transformation. Renate Helene Schweizer’s work intervenes precisely at this fault line. For more than two decades, she has worked exclusively with used tea bags—not as a symbolic gesture, but as a structural premise. Each element bears the trace of prior use: steeped, handled, discarded. In this sense, the material does not stand in for global relations; it is already embedded within them. Questions of labour, trade, ritual and ecological consequence are not represented but materially inscribed. What emerges from this premise is not a body of discrete works, but a sustained methodological position. Schweizer’s installations function as accumulative systems, composed of thousands of individual units that are collected, connected and reconfigured over time. Contributions from different geographical and social contexts are incorporated into these structures, displacing the notion of singular authorship in favour of a distributed model. The work remains fundamentally open—contingent, processual, and resistant to closure. While her practice intersects with discourses around eco-art and socially engaged art, it exceeds them by relocating sustainability from the level of content to that of operation. It is not a theme to be addressed, but a condition that structures the work from within. In doing so, Schweizer confronts a central contradiction of the contemporary art field: its reliance on the very extractive systems it seeks to critique. Her response is neither representational nor declarative. It is procedural. By working exclusively with materials that have already circulated, she interrupts the demand for constant production and introduces a different temporality—one grounded in duration, attention and relation. The accumulation of used elements becomes a form of resistance to both acceleration and obsolescence. Within this framework, her installations can be understood as propositions for a post-extractive aesthetic. They do not produce images of interconnectedness; they materialize it. Each unit functions as a carrier of situated histories, whose aggregation generates a dense field of ecological, social and cultural entanglements. The exhibition space becomes less a site of display than a site of encounter with these conditions. Crucially, this entails a shift in the position of the viewer. Rather than remaining external, spectators are implicated in the systems the work brings into being. Participation is not an add-on, but constitutive. In this sense, democracy appears not as subject matter but as a mode of operation—unstable, negotiated, and continuously produced through acts of relation and responsibility. Schweizer’s practice cannot be adequately grasped through individual works alone. Its significance lies in the coherence and persistence of its method: a synthesis of material ethics, distributed authorship and relational form. What is at stake is not simply a redefinition of artistic material, but a reconfiguration of artistic agency under the conditions of global interdependence and ecological constraint. Rather than offering a critical image of these conditions, Renate Helene Schweizer develops a practice that operates within them— and, in doing so, begins to shift their terms.” May, 1st, 2026, Red. Kunst.Aktuell

01.05.26

BALTHAZAR RIVER,GRENADA,CARIBBEAN

posted by Ivan Godfrey

This was inspired by the pristine Balthazar River in central Grenada. An unspoilt area on this beautiful island. Acrylic on canvas. 23.5'' x 19.5''. Over frame. 26'' x 22''. Available. Located in Acapulco, Mexico.

01.05.26

BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP

posted by Ivan Godfrey

This is a portrait of a bronze sculpture in Old Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, GB. This was created to commemorate the sailing of the first settlers to Australia. There is a similar sculpture in Sydney, Australia. That one is polished bronze. The one in Portsmouth is painted grey to signify the old World. The illustrations left and tight are of Old Portsmouth and Sydney. 36'' x 24'', Over frame 37'' x 25''. Available. Located in England.