Simon Wachsmuth
Evil Spirits – Measures for Revitalization

The exhibition takes as its inspiration the play Mother Courage and Her Children, one of the most famous anti-war dramas of the 20th century. Bertolt Brecht’s legendary work is set in various locations of the Thirty Years’ War. The main character is modelled on ​“Courasche, the vagabond” from Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen’s picaresque novel Trutz Simplex published at the end of the 17th century. Wachsmuth’s works reflect the impact of violence and war on people. Violence and power are also issues addressed in the work entitled Saligia, a cluster of cast bronze human arms symbolising the seven deadly sins. Saligia is, in fact, an acronym formed from the initial letters of the Latin terms for these sins.

Wachsmuth adopts and alienates theatrical forms in order to determine, in the Brechtian sense, how historical narratives can be deconstructed and how their as yet untapped potential for resistance to authoritarian conditions can be unlocked. To this end, he makes use of chassis, puppets and hand gestures, not forgetting an evil spirit that also has a hand in the proceedings.

Curator: Brigitte Reutner-Doneus