KV02

Gestalten is a multidisciplinary group exhibition based on a central theme of the human figure, inspired by the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas of the so-called other: “It’s not you who determines the world, but it’s the other who speaks to you, appeals to you and gives you a place in it”. The works presented at the exhibition are individual observations of the human figure through the lens of different visual worlds and linguistic interpretations surrounding the subject matter. Humans have been visually depicting human form as a way of measuring existence; to define a human shape is to give it a position. Levinas challenges the Western perspective of the self as the starting point, in which other people are merely reflections of the self, and instead he focuses on seeing the individual through others. According to Levinas, we can only develop a sense of self because of encounters with others, both as individuals and as societies. Is it therefore the visitor who places these visual representations of the human form, or is it the representation that does something to the visitor? Why does one work appeal to us and the one next to it doesn’t? Why does the juxtaposition of works speak to the visitor differently than the individual pieces? The exhibition is an invitation to explore a different approach to the other, one that is not based on the self as leading, which has become the norm in modern thinking, but one where we need the other to develop the self. Levinas’s philosophy invites us to act ethically and be responsible for the other before passing any judgements, to respect and honour them as human beings who give meaning to our existence.