The most recent ice age ended 12,000 years ago. Until then, Berlin was covered by an ice sheet more than 200 meters thick. The TV tower would have been barely visible. When the glaciers from Scandinavia melted away after rapid climate change, mud, sand and debris were left behind. The consequences of the cold period can still be seen today: the Prenzlauer Berg and the Kreuzberg are both banks of the glacial valley that had dug itself into the masses of sand piled up by the glaciers. In this riverbed, which is more than four kilometers wide, today’s city center was formed. It still forms the real basis for life in Berlin today.
What does this history have to do with us today? How can 12,000 years be understood in any meaningful way? How can the ground be grasped in its – geological, ecological, ideological – complexity? What of it is relevant for understanding our present? And what significance does this knowledge of soil have for our future?
Soil Samples Berlin explores the complexity of soil in an artistic way and combines different artistic disciplines to create an audiovisual installation: an 8-channel sound installation, a 6-channel video installation, space and text as well as exhibits from the natural science collection of the Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin and the geology department of the Berlin Senate Department for Environment, Transport and Climate Protection.
An audiovisual room installation by
Uwe Gössel, Wolfgang Menardi, Niclas Reed Middleton, Mark Polscher, Bernhard Siegl and Sven Sappelt.
In collaboration with
Berlin Senate Department for Environment, Transport and Climate Protection – State Geology.
Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin State Museum for Culture and History of Berlin – Department of Natural Science Collection.
Funded by
Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe.