Agenda

The Museum hosts the Swiss premiere of Antigone (2018), Tacita Dean’s (b. 1965) most complex work to date.

The presentation of the hourlong, anamorphic 35mm film is contextualized by other films, photographs, photogravures, and chalk drawings of the British-European artist.

Antigone revolves around the name ‘Antigone’ and how it resonates, not only in Greek literary history, but also in the artist’s own life.

Antigone is the name of Dean’s older sister so was one of the first words the artist ever learnt. ‘Antigone’ is also the eponymous heroine in the Theban trilogy of plays by the Greek tragedian Sophocles, which led Dean to intertwine her own story with the mythological cosmic order of classical antiquity.

The central concern in Antigone is blindness: the artist’s own willed blindness and action are prismatically fractured, yielding a panoply of radiant images.

The artist has dedicated herself in the last decade to reusing some of the early visionary techniques of filmmaking that created cinema as we know it and reworking them as a powerful argument for the medium

The screening of Antigone is complemented by a small collection of works by Dean that closely relate to this film, as well as a recent large-scale blackboard drawing, Chalk Fall (2018) and slate works

The exhibition continues with an installation of a group of short 16mm films: Ear on a Worm (2017),  A Cloud makes itself (2020), Providence (2018)  and LA Magic Hour (2019-2021).

The exhibition shows the most beautiful coloured lithographs, gouaches and representations of the large nature reserve between Säntis and the Rhine Falls at the time of its tourist discovery in the early 19th century.

A cooperation project (Idyllen zwischen Berg und See) of the Rosgartenmuseum Konstanz with the Swiss museums Turmhof Steckborn, Volkskundemuseum Stein, Museum Appenzell, Museum Rosenegg, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen, Historisches und Völkerkundemuseum St. Gallen, Museum Herisau, vorarlbergmuseum Bregenz and renowned private collectors.

Digitalisation, Clouds, Smart Factories and 3D printing: Industry 4.0 is set to revolutionise the world of work. Although these transformations may seem unprecedented, they are, in fact, part of a historical continuum.

Since the 19th century, four revolutions have profoundly transformed work in the industry. In this context, the history of Biel (canton of Bern), an industrial city, is symbolic: the introduction of machines, thermal energy, assembly line work, computers, automation, industrial robots.

During the last three industrial revolutions, each new technology has profoundly changed the way of working.

How have workers positioned themselves in the face of technological change? How has work changed over the four revolutions? How many jobs have disappeared, and what new jobs have emerged?

And, finally, what are the contributions and new challenges of Industry 4.0?