Examining Exhibits

March 13th 2020 until January 10th 2021

The exhibition Examining exhibits is about us! In it, we take a look at Lake Starnberg Museum from three angles: its collection, its history, and also through the lens of art.

Collection

At the heart of the exhibition are special, sometimes curious items from the depths of the museum depository, some of which have never been displayed to the public before. Adopting a non-hierarchical, non-scholarly approach, the boundaries between high and popular culture, between the precious and the profane are blurred in this selection of objects. Each item contributes its own story, paving the way for a process of discovery, research, and narration.

History

Collecting is part of human nature. After all, ancient societies had to gather and preserve supplies in order to survive. Starting from this basis, and continuing via the sacred treasures of antiquity and the cabinets of curiosities in the Renaissance, modern museums developed as public spaces where items were collected and displayed, and where people gathered. Using historical exhibits and the example of Lake Starnberg Museum, this exhibition provides a consciously interactive introduction to the history and responsibilities of museums.

Art

The Way Things Go (Der Lauf der Dinge) is the title of a film made in 1987 by Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss for documenta, the world-famous exhibition of contemporary art held every five years in Kassel. The film belongs to a number of collections, including those of the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In it, the artists stage a kinetic chain reaction lasting about thirty minutes. Presented in a surprising, often humorous way, the objects involved develop a common plot and become actors in their own story. A catalogue has been published to accompany the exhibition.

The exhibition is documented through a fully illustrated catalogue, available in the bookshop of the museum.