Making Things Public: Atmospheres of Democracy

A show curated by Bruno Latour & Peter Weibel
ZKM Center for Art and Media

It turns out that the oldest meaning of the English and German word for 'thing' concerns an assembly brought together to discuss disputed matters of concern. Hence the focus on the slogan FROM REALPOLITIK TO DINGPOLITIK, a neologism invented for the show. This major shift is reflected in the aesthetic of the show, in the ways in which the over one hundred installations and works of art are presented, and in the general physical and virtual architecture. What we are trying to do is compare modernist with non-modern attitudes to objects. In effect, we are moving FROM OBJECTS TO THINGS.