Stefan Knauf – Forever Again

What role do humans play in the global ecosystem? This question is the fundamental impetus for Stefan Knauf's artistic practice. Time and again, he finds reasons to question the familiar dichoto­­­­my of culture and nature and to reflect on human intervention in complex networks. The exhibition title “Forever Again” addresses the stalemate in which humanity finds itself. With a focus on growth and prosperity, natural resources are continuously being exploited. However, as the climatic consequences are now omni­present, there is a growing fear of the consequences and a longing for intact nature. Reactions to this paradox vary widely. While some advocate leaving tracts of land completely to their own devices, others attempt to restore largely destroyed systems such as moors, artificially imitate nature, or manipulate weather events through planetary geoengineering.

In this complex situation, Stefan Knauf advocates a period of re­flection, which is also discussed under the term “ecological grief.” As with any existential experience of loss, grief work is a prereq­uisite for a new perspective. The fact that numerous plants and animals have become irretrievably extinct and no longer fulfill their role in finely tuned ecosystems is a painful truth that first requires understanding and acceptance. Stefan Knauf addresses this process of realization in his sculptural room installations, which target the sensory modalities of humans. He creates landscapes out of peat and hot-dip galvanized steel sculptures or air-condi­tions exhibition displays to expose an emotional fixation on destroyed ecosystems.

The works invite viewers to consciously perceive temperatures and moods, follow feelings and memories, and observe their own longing for preservation and change. Stefan Knauf thus creates situations in which contradictions are given space, emotional motives become visible, and conversations become possible.

Stefan Knauf (born in Munich in 1990) graduated from Berlin University of the Arts in 2017. His art has been featured in group exhibitions internationally, most recently in “Paradise” (2024 New York), “Fruits of Labour” (2024 Paris), and “nachts wach” (2024 Zurich).

Stefan Knauf was awarded the Hanke-Förster-Prize (2017) and the Helmut-Thoma-Prize (2012). His artistic practice includes research and lectures, most recently at the Princeton School of Architecture (Princeton 2024) and the UdK (Berlin 2022). He lives and works in Barcelona and Berlin.