Verdichtete Zeit

Oil is condensed time – formed from the remains of prehistoric life, hidden within the Earth’s geological strata. Hardly any other substance links nature, energy and the human imagination so directly. The exhibition at ERES Projects is dedicated to a raw material that has shaped landscapes, economies and social perceptions for more than a century. As a source of progress and prosperity, oil simultaneously symbolises environmental damage and the challenges posed by dependence on fossil fuels. Between geological history and global infrastructure, a complex web unfolds in which nature, ecology, the economy and culture intertwine to form narratives of global significance.

The works of the Kuwaiti artist Monira Al Qadiri explore the contradictory relationship between the sea and petrochemical energy production. Her luminous portholes serve as a reminder that the first oil tankers were named after sea shells – a poetic yet paradoxical echo of the intertwining of the marine world and the raw materials industry. Goshka Macuga’s tapestry, featuring woven textures and photographic elements of an oil rig, addresses the effects of the Anthropocene, particularly the environmental destruction caused by industrialisation. Mark Dion uses tar as a metaphor for the transformation of organic material through industrial processes. His black-dyed bird sculpture embodies the vulnerability of ecosystems to petroleum-based pollution. Ed Ruscha’s iconic artist’s book features seemingly casual photographs of petrol stations along Route 66. Like the pages of a sober archive, they document an infrastructure that shapes landscapes and reveals our dependence on fossil fuel systems. Niloufar Shirani is interested in the conflicting forces of oil and water, their coexistence and interpenetration without ever fully mixing. The Iranian artist is concerned with the fluidity of thought.

The exhibition paints a multifaceted picture of oil as a resource and a vehicle of cultural significance, the traces of which shape our present just as much as our visions of the future.