LUNAR LITTER or Things we left on the moon

I have posted this work before but because of obvious reasons I am posting it again. Putting aside all fascination with astronautics and outer space, we are currently transferring the problems we have on Earth into space unfortunately on every level. So far, without solutions that actually work and in an area where there are hardly any laws at all.

Garbage bag, inspired by the so-called “jettison bags” used in space travel. I had two of these bags produced and embroidered with the lettering “lunar litter only.” On May 23, 2023, one bag was sent to the HQ of NASA with the request that it be taken to the moon as part of the Artemis II mission, planned for 2025 (which has now just happenend), to retrieve some of the 190 tons of material left behind by NASA during the Apollo missions.

You find all the objects that were left behind on the moon listed in the "Catalogue of Manmade Material on the Moon" by NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration here: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/final-catalogue-of-manmade-material-on-the-moon.pdf

I realized the work with the help of my wonderful assistant Joana Bacelar.
Installation view of my exhibition "Instant Paradise" at Villa Dessauer Bamberg (Museen der Stadt Bamberg) in 2023.

[Swaantje Güntzel, Lunar Litter (Jettison Bag), 2023, polyester, embroidery thread, plastic, galvanized metal, 50 x 53 x 98 cm]

Foto: Tobias Hübel

#art #conceptualart #contemporaryart #kunst #konzeptkunst #zeitgenössischekunst #installation #nasa #esa #spacedebris #orbitaldebris #artemisII #moon #mond #lunarlitter #jettisonbags #apollo #apollomissions #weltraumschrott #artistinscience #exhibition #villadessauer #bamberg #exhibition #instantparadise #swaantjeguentzel #swaantjegüntzel #ausstellung #lunarlitteronly #space #spacetravel #raumfahrt

Throwback Thursday

Since our last project in Finland has now been completed, I will be sharing images from past events that took place as part of our project series PRESERVED at irregular intervals from now on.

Lämpöpaikka

We created this intervention in the frame of a residency grant at platform Vaasa in Finland in 2013 and presented it during a Performance Festival in Seinäjoki in public space. A small stove was connected to an electrical outlet that is normally used in winter to keep car engines warm (Lämpöpaikka/värmeplats) in order to cook jam. The berries used for preserving were provided to us by visitors to the event. During the whole stay in Vaasa we dealt with the berry culture in northern Europe.

#art #conceptualart #contemporaryart #kunst #konzeptkunst #zeitgenössischekunst #performance #intervention #artistresidency #artistinresidence #platform #platformvaasa #vasa #vaasa #finland #finnland #österbotten #ostrobothnia #beeren #marmelade #berries #jam #seinäjoki #performancefestival #sonnenschirm #einkochen #preserving #preserved #scheibeundgüntzel #lämpöpaikka #värmeplats

The old days IV

If I remember it right this intervention was one of the first Jan Philip Scheibe and I realized together. We had just started dating and spend a lot of time roaming the Teutoburg Forest and Egge Range. And just made art for the sake of art. We took different pieces of common IKEA furniture such as GORM (shelving unit for basement) back to the forest to be reintegrated into the natural circuit. The gradual deterioration was constantly documented.

[Scheibe & Güntzel, GORM - Das Waldregal, Series of installations/interventions, 2003-2008]

#art #conceptualart #contemporaryart #kunst #konzeptkunst #zeitgenössischekunst #installation #intervention #ikea #gorm #gormdaswaldregal #teutoburgerwald #tutoburgforest #eggegebirge #eggerange #wald #forest #wälder #woods #furniture #shelf #regal

The old days III

Even though I am not rummaging through shoe boxes that have been sitting under the bed for years, but just digital photo folders, it does feel a bit nostalgic at times. Here’s another piece from the old days when I used to roam the woods with Jan Philip Scheibe just to make art. This work is part of a series where inflatable plastic objects representing nature were staged in the landscape. The series began in 2006 and marked the start of my artistic exploration of our relationship with plastic.


[Swaantje Güntzel, The age of plastic / fly agaric, 2009, Intervention]


#art #conceptualart #konzeptkunst #contemporaryart #zeitgenössischekunst #fotografie #photography #fliegenpilz #flyagaric #wald #wälder #woods #forest #pilze #theageofplastic #westfalen #plastic #plasticcrisis

The old days II

This is another work I found while rummaging through my digital photo albums. Back from the days when I used to stroll through the Westphalian forests together with Jan Philip Scheibe and we made art just for the sake of art. Here we equipped hunting stands with flower boxes. The boxes contained red geraniums.

[Swaantje Güntzel, Hochsitz 3, 2008, Intervention]

#art #conceptualart #contemporaryart #kunst #konzeptkunst #zeitgenössischekunst #wald #forest #hochsitz #huntingstand #geranien #geraniums #flowers #intervention #westfalen #westphalia #jagd #hunting #blumen #balkonblumen

The old days

Over the last few days, I’ve been rummaging through my digital photo albums and found a few old works from the times when I used to stroll through the Westphalian forests together with Jan Philip Scheibe and we just made art for the sake of art. For this one we mounted a photo wallpaper ("Paradise") onto panels and staged it in the forest. There were more spruce trees back then.

[Swaantje Güntzel, Fototapete, 2008, temporäre Installation]

#art #conceptualart #konzeptkunst #contemporaryart #zeitgenössischekunst #fotografie #photography #photowallpaper #fototapete #wald #ostwestfalen #westfalen #westphalia #fichten #spruce #spruces #paradies #paradise #wald #forest #fichte #spruce #fichtensterben

ARCTIC LANDSCAPE I-IV, 2024
Postcards

I produced this work in the frame of my fellowship at RIFS Forschungsinstitut für Nachhaltigkeit | am GFZ in Potsdam (2023/24) when I explored how stereotyped depictions of the Arctic, long entangled with colonial interests, persist and still echo in today’s contemporary visual culture.

The landscapes depicted on the postcards were assembled from some of the most popular Arctic motifs found in a major image database. The most frequently used images from these collections tend to portray stereotypical vast, pristine landscapes of snow and ice. When people are included, they are typically represented as tourists or scientists, motifs featuring locals are rare, and when they are shown, it is often in stereotypical situations.

[Swaantje Güntzel, ARCTIC LANDSCAPE I–IV, 2024, postcards (10,5 x 14,8 cm), postcard racks, variable dimensions]

Foto installation view: Tobias Hübel

#art #conceptualart #kunst #konzeptkunst #contemporaryart #zeitgenössischekunst #fellowship #rifs #potsdam #arktis #arctic #postcard #postkarte #landschaft #landscape #stereotypes #imagedatabank #bilddatenbank #stereotype #schnee #snow #eis #ice #eislandschaft #schneelandschaft #artfellow #tourismus #turism #arcticturism #darkturism