Comfort zone
The class of Prof. Shana Moulton

The exhibition to seek out, to explore, to doze, to snooze organised by students of Prof. Moulton’s class at the Münster Academy of Fine Arts is a place of comfort which visitors are invited to explore with all their senses. The installations in the rooms of the Dortmunder Kunstverein allow visitors to actively interact and relax between the festival’s film screenings. Yoga performances and comfort food promote their feeling of well-being.
The concept of the exhibition is based on two aspects:  on the therapeutic concept of »Snoezelen«, which was developed in the Netherlands, and on »relational aesthetics«, a term coined by Nicolas Bourriaud in the 1990s. Snoezelen describes a subjective exploratory activity which stimulates a feeling of relaxation with gentle multi-sensory impressions in special rooms equipped with atmospheric lighting, sound and soft furnishings. Moulton’s class used the concept of »relational aesthetics« as a theoretical basis. While the representatives of this trend saw the relationships between the visitors in their installations as the work itself, Moulton’s class places the artistic object in a more active position again. The aim of the exhibition’s installations is not to force the visitors into a community but to be playgrounds of »existence«.
Visitors should have a comprehensive physical experience beyond the ordinary. The conceptual basis of this is not to remain two-dimensional, or be limited to a purely visual experience, but to feel, hear and taste. Impressions may overlap in the process and comfort may become too pleasant, too gentle, until the melodramatic traumatisation of modern cosiness manifests itself.
_Matthias Zahlten, Klasse Moulton

Artists and works
Jennifer Biemer & Léa Landwehr Comfort Food, Performance, 2015
Lisa Blumendeller Crystalline, Stoffinstallation, 2015
Paul (M.M) Dörper Urban City Trip, Performance, 2015
Gilsuk Ko o.T., Video, 2014
Janina Lemparty Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That, Stoff- und Soundinstallation und Performance, 2015
Janina Lemparty Isle Of Pleasure, Stoffinstallation mit Wutbällen, 2015
Hannah Menzel, Pia Weitkamp, Julia Warnecke & Charlotte & Therese Watolla Entspannungsquickie, Installation, 2015
Vanessa Möbes o.T., Videoinstallation, 2015
Meike Roolfs Hypnotic Chair, 2015
Kenny Rüdiger Narcolepsy, Installation, 2015
Frédéric Schmidt & Daniel Bonrath Die flauschigen Tierbabies mit Rotterdam Snoozle Corps, Soundinstallation, 2015
Elisabeth (Lis) Schröder Arcadia, Video, 2014
Mila Stoytcheva & Kathrin Heyer Titanius Tarrance of Happy Harmonies, Kuscheltierinstallation, 2015
Mileva Testas Hypnotize, Video, 2015
Yi Cui Touching, Installation, 2015
Matthias Zahlten Protecting Seaman, Stoffinstallation, 2015

Guests
beißpony
Wolfgang Kienast
Prof. Dr. E.J. Speckmann

In association with: Dortmunder Kunstverein and Kunstakademie Münster

Picture: © Janina Lemparty