The exhibition examines the interplay between people, technology and nature using examples from recent art history. The spectrum of positions gathered in the Rieckhallen ranges from historical developments since the 1960s, such as Land Art, Arte Povera and Conceptual Art, to contemporary artistic discussions on the topics of ecology and the environment.
A broad and urgent public discussion has developed over the past few years about the ecological crises of our time. Phenomena such as climate change, the extinction of species, the overexploitation of resources and the spread of plastics are understood in various scientific disciplines as indicators of the dawn of a new geological age: the Anthropocene. The term describes that man (Greek anthropos ) has a decisive influence on developments on earth. The works of art exhibited in “Scratching the Surface” address how the understanding of concepts and notions of landscape and the environment has changed over the past six decades.