Interview with Bettina Pelz by Johanna Baumgart, Matteo Antoniazzi, Merve Can, Thu Giang Ngo
Published on 10 JUN 2025.
FOOTNOTES is an exhibition about hidden peripheral details. Was this a deliberate choice?
The students of the EXHIBIT seminar developed the guiding idea for the first-night session at the OPEN SPACE DOMSHOF. We discussed the options for public art at Bremen’s central square and the role of a student project following the leitmotif of “Living in the City.” I like the idea of looking for small things and sharing attentive observations — something not dedicated to the big picture, but all the small things that can make a difference. And I am happy to explore the conceptual approach with them.
Each semester, I find an exhibition project where students and alumni/ae can be involved in frameworks that allow them to present their works in new contexts. Each practice field has specific demands, from providing a CV and visuals of referential works to on-site production, safety and security, audience care, art mediation, or documentation. These practice projects are good steps moving from the academic home to the professional contexts of choice.
EXHIBIT c/o LICHTROUTEN Luedenscheid 2025
EXHIBIT c/o GOLDSTUECKE Gelsenkirchen 2024
EXHIBIT c/o WATER LIGHT FESTIVAL Brixen 2023
Was this large, central venue difficult to approach with this topic in mind?
Bremen’s Domshof is the larger open space in the city center, surrounded by historic buildings and active with weekly markets. In my eyes, it is a perfect place to make space for contemporary art. It allows us to combine a range of artworks, from small 3D prints to screen-based installations to large-scale projections. The choice of media tools and formats will be done individually. We predefined the projection as the display only for the Open Call.
Lorenz Potthast and I are experimenting with the Media Art Lab as a new format this semester. We would love to see more media artworks in Bremen’s public spaces, so we developed a module integrated into the all-summer program OPEN SPACE DOMSHOF in the city center. We were pleased to find open minds to find ways to allow our ideas to happen.
Three Night Sessions
Our program will run for three nights and start after 10:00 PM to provide darkness for presenting media artworks on a larger screen.
10 JUL
This semester’s EXHIBIT class hosts the first night. Students from the study programs Integrated Design, Fine Art, and Digital Media are joining. It is a new group that has never worked together before.
11 JUL
We embedded an academic cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences in Hannover, where Lorenz is teaching this semester. His class is titled UNCERTAIN SURFACES.
12 JUL
We also sustained an international collaboration with a curatorial collective that emerged in last semester’s project. The OUT Collective consists of two HfK students, a young curator from Greece, and two emerging curators from Tunisia. Their focus is on INVISIBLE CITIES.
From what we know by now, we will have artworks with an explorative mood: An animation of a naked foot walking in the city, a video-based work of a dancer moving in urban settings, or we will be following a camera exploring an urban space from a dog’s perspective. There will be 3d prints of defensive architecture found in Bremen and a video essay on loneliness at parties. The public display provides insight into contemporary artistic mindsets and is a seismograph of what shapes the Bremen experience. The MEDIA ART LAB works well as a framework where artists review Bremen’s urban performance.
What is your aim for this exhibition?
As an exhibition project, I am glad to provide an insight into the diverse forms of expression that are developed during studies in Bremen.
As a teaching project, I focus on professionalizing professional practices. This is a practice field where to learn about all the contextual demands that artists who wish to work in public settings are confronted with — from writing applications to supporting communication, handling production, not forgetting about audience interaction, and securing documentation.
Why is it important to exhibit art projects publicly?
For me, art is an essential echo chamber that profoundly influences my sense of direction. Engaging with art means being involved with the unknown. Contemporary art provides a steady flow of research and development that corresponds with my inquisitive mind. It is a constant demand for attention, empathy, and awareness.
Public art projects offer audiences direct insight into the research, experimentation, and innovation that drive contemporary artistic practice. They reveal the creative processes behind artworks, allowing viewers to understand how and why they approach specific issues or materials. Being public will enable it to become a catalyst for conversation and exchange.
Public art displays encourage everyone to engage in this dynamic process of questioning, making art a shared, living dialogue instead of an exclusive experience. By showcasing what is on the artistic radar, they emphasize the topics, forms, and technologies with which artists engage. Audiences can witness firsthand how artists challenge and broaden visual expression, and how artists remain responsive to our world’s rapid changes and evolving realities.
What is the state of Public Media Art in Bremen?
It could be better: Art institutions such as Kunsthalle and Weserburg show a continuous interest in media art from the 20th and 21st centuries in their collections, public art projects, and exhibition programs. All Bremen universities offer study programs featuring digital media and creative practices, including art and design approaches. However, no public art project or media art festival is dedicated to featuring innovative projects, unexpected voices, and reflective approaches in contemporary media art.
FEATURED IMAGE
Sangbong Lee. WATER LIGHT FESTIVAL Brixen 2023. Photo: Jimi Liu.