PONOR

What does it mean to view the river Pader as an organism composed of many individual parts? Lex Rütten and Jana Kerima Stolzer pick up on the so-called »Gaia Hypothesis« with this question, which is based on the scientific concept that the Earth can be considered a self-regulating system in which living organisms and their physical environment interact to create conditions that sustain life.

For the exhibition PONOR at the Städtische Galerie in der Reithalle, they explore the underground paths of the river Pader from the highlands of Paderborn to the sources. With their spatial installation that combines sound, light and digital art, Lex Rütten and Jana Kerima Stolzer create a kind of parallel world that invites visitors to immerse themselves and experience time and space in a different way. Like a sinkhole in the karst rock, the immersive installation allows visitors to follow the water through complex cave systems and encounter tiny organisms such as the cave beetle. With a voice given to them, the non-human neighbours from the flora and fauna take centre stage and tell the story of their lives, survival and adaptation. In a unique way and a mix of fact and fiction, the artists tell the story of the river Pader before it emerges from the sources in the city centre.