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Sonja Hornung

Sonja Hornung

area: Visual Art

Sperre II, Installation © 2019 Sonja Hornung

Sperre II, Installation, Detail © 2019 Sonja Hornung

Sperre I, Performance mit Josephine Findeisen, © 2019 Sonja Hornung, Foto: Chloe Wächter

Zeichnung zu Sperre II, Aquarelle auf Papier © 2019 Sonja Hornung

Zeichnung zu Sperre II, Aquarelle auf Papier, Installation - Detail © 2019 Sonja Hornung

Key Facts

nationality

Australia, Netherlands

area

Visual Art

residence

Berlin

recommending institution

frei_raum Q21 exhibition space

time period

July 2020 - August 2020

Born 1987 in Melbourne on unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people.
Lives and works in Berlin since 2012.

EDUCATION

2016 MA Spatial Strategies, Weißensee School of Art, Berlin
2010 BA Creative Arts with Honours in Visual Media (First Class), Melbourne University, Diploma in Modern Languages (German), The University of Melbourne

SELECTED WORKS IN URBAN SPACE AND COLLABORATIONS

ZickZack & Zwischenstand, Series of events and urban interventions in urban space in Pankow
with x-embassy Kollektiv, co-hosted by ACUD MACHT NEU (ongoing, from October 2019)
Real Estates of Emergency, Performance with COPS (Corporation of People's Situations),
Transmediale Berlin, Haus der Kulturen der Welt (January 2019)
Sperre for Womxn in Resistance, la capsula, Zürich (June 6, 2019)
Amplify and Sediment, with Josephine Findeisen, TIER (The Institute for Endotic Research, Berlin (August 1, 2019)
Ex-Embassy, exhibition and text series in the former australian embassy to the GDR (with Rachel O'Reilly as curatorial advisor, August 1-31, 2018)
NEUFORM/NEUHAUT, Forum Stadtpark, Graz (with Kinga Toth, January 26, 2018)
Rheinsprung, performance in public space, Bonn (with Richard Pettifer, November 9, 2017)
Spiel, dessen Regeln neu zu verhandeln sind, Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin (October 22)
Verhandlung, The Hidden Institute Studio, Berlin (May 22, 2016) and Deutsches SchauSpielHaus, Hamburg (July 23, 2016)
Aktion Set, Cafe Oto, London (May 5, 2014), Kunstraum Bethanien (July 9, 2014) & Acker'Festival, Berlin (September 19, 2015)
Emptying flags, Neue Berliner Raume, Berlin (2012-14, 2013)
Mauer Botschaft, Uferstudios (May 5-11, 2013)
Flags with no meaning, General Public, Berlin (August 24, 2012)
Brunswick Beach, cnr Glenlyon & Sydney Roads, Brunswick (November 27-December 4, 2011)
Scaffold, MoreArt Moreland Public Art Prize, Melbourne (October 2-30, 2011)

EXHIBITIONS (SOLO)

Femina Subtetrix, Ivan Gallery, Bucharest (collaboration with Larisa Crunteanu, September 9-
October 10, 2015)
Opened, Neue Berliner Raume, Berlin (April 8-12, 2014)
Future Library Service, Platform Public Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne (May 7-30, 2012)
Ground, The Library Artspace, Melbourne (July 6-30, 2011) THICK SPACE, Bus Projects, Melbourne (March 29-April 16, 2011)

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS (GROUP)

not everything means something, honey, Anca Poterasu Gallery, Bucharest (Sept 18-Oct 11, 2019)
un/select, Kleine Humboldt Galerie (July 12, 2019)
Sternbildgrenzen, Steiermarkisches Landesbibliothek, Johannesmuseumsviertel, Graz (May 7-September 13, 2019)
Erste Fünf, Rathaus für Neue Kunst, Lichtensteig, Schweiz (April 28-May 31, 2019)
ARMEL AUFKREMPELN ZUPACKEN AUFBAUEN! Spor Klübü (October 30, 2018)
Opportunity, Kunsthalle am Hamburger Platz, Berlin (October 11-25, 2018)
Memoria ca viziune, Cluj Napoca Cultural Centre, Romania (with Larisa Crunteanu, October 19-November 15, 2018)
In Situ, MAGMA Contemporary Art Space, Sfantu Gheorghe (December 12-January 12, 2017)
Art Encounters Biennale, Timisoara (with Richard Pettifer, September 30-November 5, 2017)
Aukcja! Sztuka dla Puszcy, Galeria Miejska Arsenal, Poznan (October 13-20, 2017)
Corporation of People’s Situations (COPS), Kunstverein Harburg (June 17-July 23, 2017)
business as usual (submit your invoice), Kreuzberg Pavillon, Berlin (April 29-May 1, 2017)
Belief in the Power of Gesture, Projektraum LS43, Berlin (January 21-March 4, 2017)
Intermaterial Subject, Ying Colosseum, Berlin (October 2, 2016)
Public Speaking, District, Berlin (April 21-May 27, 2016)
L'Intru/The Invaders, Errant Bodies, Berlin (March 15-20, 2016)
Private Parts, Gitte Bohr, Berlin (November 6-8, 2015)
cool runnings, Kuhlhaus, Berlin (July 18-30, 2015)
L'Intru/The Invaders, Friday Exit, Vienna (June 12-28, 2015)
Where the Place Begins, Kunsthaus Dahlem, Berlin (May 23, 2015)
Nothing Happening, Kings ARI, Melbourne (September 30, 2013)
Moderne Proben, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Berlin (January 17-19, 2013)

RESIDENCIES

DOGO Residenz für neue Kunst (Liechtensteig, St Gallen, Switzerland, 2019)
Künstlerhaus Dortmund Residency (with COPS, September 2018)
Styria Artist Residency (Graz, Austria, 2017-18)
In situ Residency, Studio B5 (with Richard Pettifer, Targu Mures, 2017)
ODD Residency, Bucharest (2015)

GRANTS / AWARDS

Australia Council Arts Project Grant (2018)
Studio funding - bbk Berlin (2017-ongoing)
Styria Artist-in-Residence Scholarship (Nov 2017-Jan 2018)
Mart Stam Atelierstipendium (studio scholarship) (2016)
DAAD Stibet Studienabschluss Stipendium (graduation bursary) (2016)
DAAD PROMOS Grant (2015)
Australian Copyright Agency “Creative Careers” Grant (2014)
European Cultural Fund “Step Beyond” Grant (2014)
DAAD Academic Exchange Grant (2009-10)
Moreland Council Community Arts Grant (2011)
Melbourne National Scholarship (2005-10)

PRESS / PUBLICATIONS (SELECTED)

Jane O'Neill, "Ex-Embassy: Former Australian Embassy to the German Democratic Republic", eyeline Contemporary, Issue 90, 2018
Brianna Summers, "Uberreste einer gescheiterten (diplomatischen) Beziehung", Goethe-Institut Kulturmagazin, July 2018
Samuel Staples, "The Simultaneity of Stories Thus Far", Berlin Art Link, August 2018
Natalia Bronny, Neue Botschaften in der Botschaft, taz, 08.08.2018
Maria-Alina Asavei, Aesthetics, Disinterestedness and Effectiveness in Political Art, New York: Roman & Littlefield, 2018
Vanessa Roi, "Die Frage nach dem 'Wir nach dem wir'", 80 Kulturzeitung, Marz 2018
Christine Scherzinger, Berlin - Visionen einer zukünftigen Urbanitat: Uber Kunst, Kreativitat und alternativer Stadtgestaltung, Berlin: transcript Verlag, 2017
Maria-Alina Asavei & Jiri Kocian, "Gendered Histories/Memories of Labour", analyze! Journal of Gender and Feminist Studies, Issue 8, 2017
Sabine Weier, "Utopischer Spielplatz für Künstler", Goethe Institute, December 2016
Ulrike Gerhardt, "Femina Subtetrix: A feminist look at the APACA textile factory", ARTMargins, May 2016
Kevin Rittberger, Arglosigkeit, Hamburg: Textem Verlag, 2016
Julianne Codray, "Public Speaking: Articulations of power through position", Berlin Art Link, May 2016
Alison Hugill, "A Speculative Fiction: Femina Subtetrix", Revista Arta, September 2015
Alison Hugill, "Reviving the Place" Berlin Art Link, June 2015
Rachel Walker, "Sonja Hornung: Opened", Grrrlberlin, April 2014
Birgit Rieger, "Knochenmehl im Hörsaal", Zitty, July 2013, p. 81
Arkadij Koscheew, "Emptying flags: an interview with Sonja Hornung", 160g, July 2013
Amy Spiers, "Something from nothing", Extended Forecast Journal, November 2013
Mark Holmsworth, "The Future Library Service", Melbourne Art and Culture Critic, July 2012

WRITING (SELECTED)

"Negotiating privatising infrastructures", WORD. Magazin für Literatur, Kunst und Gesellschaft, Issue 2 - This is a woman's world, pp. 42-50
"Beyond toxic autonomy", Arts of the Working Class Magazine, Issue 5, May 2019
"Some complications regarding uniforms", Text and illustrations, ztscrpt, 2017
"The Difference", On art and real estate / interviews with real estate developers (Berlin), KubaParis, 2016
"All Centres are Peripheries", Project Space Festival, August 2016
"Wohnungsfrage", Exhibition review, Frieze, 10.12.2015
"Cage Without Borders", Account of an attempt to enter a tax haven for art investors, raUMzine, Issue 1, July 2015, pp. 24-6
"Putzstrategien", Account of a student protest, Artleaks Gazette, 2015, see pp. 63-73
"How to Survive an Education Reform", Commentary on Australian higher education reform, Spook Magazine, 04.12.2014
"The Pursuit of Public Happiness?", Exhibition review, Frieze, Issue 165, September 2014
"Withdrawal Symptoms II", Fake interview with Luca Belgiorno-Nettis and Kasper König, Self-published text / performance
"Manifesta without a Manifesto", Condensed interviews / Faked statement, Self-published silkscreen print (edition of 45)
"On Public Relations, and Relating to the Public", Bad at Sports, 2015
"Everything is Near: Culture Softens Violence in Manifesta 10", Artslant, 07.07.2014
"An Obituary for Transfield's Biennale of Sydney", Bad at Sports, 20.03.2014
"Artists and Gentrification", Cultural politics (Berlin/Hamburg), ArtSlant, 06.03.2014

Project info

Sperre III will consist of a third, hand-sewn suit made of silver-pigmented, reflective polyester: as high-vis as possible. The entire edge of the suit is lined with one zipper. The suit includes gloves, boots and a semi-transparent face covering. A metal brace hovers over the face, holding two screens: one directed inwards, filming the face, and one directed outwards, filming what the face would see. The wearer chooses a route that navigates both private and public spaces. Sperre III will be accompanied by a series of text-drawings observing shifts driven by financialisation and its impact on urban spaces, particularly during the (coming) economic fall-out of COVID-19.

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