Rudolf Steiner, May 21 - August 20, 2004 (prolonged)
 Ackknowledgements and thanks to:
During the Steiner-exhibition several events were taking place, mostly talks, and again a life-performance was staged.

Please find below visuals of the opening as well as of the other events.


 Jan Albers; Dr. Walter Kugler, Vera Koppehel, Jens Prochnow; Ute Reifenberg, Frau Bihl, Herr Tewes; Marie-Luise Syring; Walter Dahn, Johannes Stuettgen, Ralf Berger; Peter Ewig; Wolfgang Heinen - Heinendruck; the technical support of museum kunst palast and Kunsthalle Duesseldorf; Kulturamt Duesseldorf and Kunststiftung NRW
Opening Rudolf Steiner, May 21, 2004:
On Sunday, May 23, 2004, Dr.Walter Kugler held his talk "Denken in Farben und Formen" (Thinking in colors and forms) in the Van Horn space. About 20 - 25 people attended, mostly artists from different generations. Dr.Kugler first introduced Steiner to us through his biography, thus giving us the possibility of placing him in his time and of understanding Steiner's influences, as well as the influence he had on others. Then Dr.Kugler told us something about Steiner's talks, which relate to the exhibited blackboard-drawings. He also described general things about Steiner's philosophy as well as some special things Steiner had said about art. Altogether Dr.Kugler talked very enthusiastically for about two hours.

Amazingly after this talk a vehement discussion amongst the attending artists began, which lasted another two hours. Especially interesting to me was the question, "How does one relate to these works, now that they are shown in a contemporary space and how could one place his own work in relation to it?". Also their meaning as works of art was questioned, and if these works could have any effect on us right now besides being interesting historic works. It was an inspiring and successful evening. Hope to see and hear more of this. Best wishes, Daniela Steinfeld
"Denken in Farben und Formen", May 23, 2004:
On Sunday, June 20, 2004, Vera Koppehel (*1971) and Jens Prochnow (*1973) gave the talk "Steiners Erben" (Steiner's Heirs). Both are working at the Rudolf Steiner Archive in Dornach, Switzerland. The talk started with Vera giving an introduction into the making of the blackboard-drawings in general and then specifically describing the content of three of the exhibited drawings as well as the connected talks Steiner gave.

After a short break Jens Prochnow continued the talk with an explanation of who Steiner was, how he was placed in his time and then Jens gave a brief overview about what Anthroposophy is and was. Jens also described his personal experience of living with Anthroposophy in a "postmodern" way, as somebody stated later. Vera and Jens both tried to give us an insight into the blackboard-drawings, architecture and the work of Rudolf Steiner in general with a contemporary outlook, and managed to overcome some prejudices. The attending audience this time was quite mixed.

Again a lively discussion started after the talk, this time very concentrated and very clear statements were given. The participating people were well informed about art history as well as some works of Steiner. Thank you! Daniela Steinfeld
"Steiners Erben", June 20, 2004:
On Sunday July 4, 2004 the Dusseldorf-based artist Ralf Berger showed "Selbstberuhigung", a live performance and the making of an artwork in the Rudolf Steiner exhibition.This work related to the exhibition situation in the space as well as to the exploration of the human condition. He built a box with the exact same measurements as the pedestal on which the Steiner-modells are placed in the Van Horn space. The box was placed symmetrically to the pedestal in the exhibition. The box was hollow inside and, without being noticed by the audience, the artist squeezed inside it and started painting it from the inside with white paint. The artist was wearing a camera-eye and a pocket-light, the whole action was videotaped and parallell to the performance screened on a TV-monitor which was placed on top of the box. For the audience it was not obvious if it was really a live performance or not, they could only guess. It was really a great and a bit of a frightening work! Thank you, Ralf. Daniela Steinfeld
Ralf Berger "Selbstberuhigung", July 4, 2004:
On Sunday July 11, 2004 the artists Walter Dahn and Johannes Stuettgen, both former Beuys' students, were talking about their discovery of the blackboard-drawings of Rudolf Steiner. Daniela Steinfeld moderated the talk, the audience was included from the beginning. Walter and Johannes gave very personal insights into their evaluation of the work and their approach towards art in general. Dahn said that for him it was like discovering a treasure. It was an intense talk and too much content to be given here. A video-documentation of the evening exists, so possibly there will be a transcript of the talk on this site in the future. I want to thank all artists, speakers and interested people who took part in the Van Horn events so far, you give life to this project. Best wishes, Daniela Steinfeld
Dahn, Stuettgen, Steinfeld - artist talk, July 11, 2004:
18 - 20 August 2004, 9 pm - 1 am
In his 2-part video-work, which was shown in the windows of the Van Horn space during the last 3 days
of the Steiner-exhibition, Peter Ewig refers the theme autoagression - suicide - redemption and the
theatricality of these things as a kind of background for the free artwork.
Peter Ewig - Exemplarischer Sturz aus dem Gefühl des behausten Lebens
(An exemplary plunge from the feeling of domestic life) - video-screening, 18 - 20 August 2004, 9 pm - 1 am
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