Pyrolator and Friends | Der Tag an dem die Erde Still steht

In the organizer's words:

SETAREH X presents The Day the Earth Stands Still, a unique exhibition featuring important artists from the Düsseldorf punk scene in conversation with a new sound sculpture by Pyrolator aka Kurt Dahlke. The exhibition is part of Düsseldorf Photo+ and will open with a vernissage on Friday, May 17 at 6 pm. The artists will be present.

How do you find us?
SETAREH X
Hohe Straße 53, 40213 Düsseldorf
Tue. - Fri. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

The exhibition will be on display from May 17 to July 12 .

The title Der Tag, an dem die Erde Still Steht comes from Kurt Dahlke's sound work of the same name from the year 2023. It imagines a day on which all progress comes to an abrupt halt. The world seems frozen in the cold of space - a non-space in which sound expands and envelops the viewer in nihilistic dissonance. Dahlke (himself a native of Düsseldorf) has been making an incessant innovative contribution to the German music scene since the late 1970s with the bands D.A.F, Fehlfarben and a group of dangerous clowns alias Der Plan. Under the name Pyrolator, he has created an extensive solo work in which he explores the limits of sound production with the help of electronic MIDI instruments and synaesthetic reactions to the environment. Recent projects include site-specific installations for the Heinrich-Heine-Allee subway station in Düsseldorf and the new Château Royal hotel in Berlin. This exhibition will be the debut of his latest sound sculpture in the Rhineland.

In Der Tag, an dem die Erde Still steht , the immersive, spatial experience is realized through a four-channel installation that constantly reconfigures the source and direction of the sound autonomously. Driven by a sampler, the quadraphonic loudspeaker arrangement draws us deep into the long, dissonant sound drawings and their subtle nuances. Developed from fragments of classical composition, these motifs extend rhythmically and harmonically into the horizon of time. They expand our senses towards a vanishing point.

For this special exhibition project, The Day is presented in conversation with paintings and works by other artists from Dahlke's formative years, which revolve in particular around the infamous Ratinger Hof in Düsseldorf. Run by Carmen Knoebel and Ingrid Kohlhöfer, the club is considered the birthplace of German punk. It created a space for deviant artistic expression and multimedia experiments. By bringing together documentation and art from this period, contextualized by the haunting soundscape of Dahlke's multi-channel sound work, the exhibition looks back on the ambitions of this utopian creative period in Düsseldorf. In addition to documentary photographs of the events at Ratinger Hof from Carmen Knoebel's archive, we are showing sound works by Katharina Fritsch, which were produced by Dahlke's label "Ata Tak", a poetry reading performance by Martin Kippenberger and Ulrich Meister in the courtyard, as well as performances curated by Knoebel for DIA Cologne and documenta VII with Dahlke, The Red Crayola, Mittagspause and Babeth Mondini-VanLoo, and an archive of albums published by Ata Tak and artworks by Moritz Reichelt and Milan Kunc that exemplify the graphic irreverence of the time.

The exhibition project is co-curated by Lee Plested and Maximilian Schäffer. A limited print edition of Der Tag, an dem die Erde Still steht is available at the gallery.

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SETAREH X is proud to present The Day the Earth Stood Still, an iconic exhibition that features important creators from the Düsseldorf punk scene in conversation with a new sound sculpture by Pyrolator, also known as Kurt Dahlke. The exhibition is a part of Düsseldorf Photo+ and will open with a vernissage on Friday, May 17th at 6pm. The artists will be in attendance.

How can you find us?
SETAREH X
Hohe Straße 53, 40213 Düsseldorf
Tue. - Fri. 10am - 6pm
Sat. 10am - 5pm

The Day the Earth Stood Still, takes its title from a 2023 sound sculpture by Pyrolator, aka Kurt Dahlke, which imagines a day when progress comes to an abrupt halt, freezing the world in a disarming chill of horizonal dimensions where sound stretches out and surrounds the viewer with nihilistic dissonance. Dahlke, the legendary Düsseldorf native, has consistently made innovative contributions to the German music scene starting in the late 1970s by playing in D.A.F, the post-punk Fehlfarben, and the band known as dangerous clowns, Der Plan. He has also realized a significant body of solo work under the name Pyrolator, where he pushes the boundaries of sonic production through MIDI controlled electronic instruments and acoustically responding to synaesthetic environments. Recent commissions include site specific installations for the Heinrich-Heine-Allee subway station in Düsseldorf and the new Hotel Château Royal in Berlin. Ourpresentation will be the debut of this newest sound sculpture in the Rhineland.

For this special exhibition project, the work will be presented in dialogue with images and other artists' works from Dahlke's developmental years, particularly revolving around Düsseldorf's infamous Ratinger Hof. Often regarded as the birth place of German punk, the bar which was run by Carmen Knoebel and Ingrid Kohlhöfer, created a space for deviant expression and experimentation. By bringing together documentation and art from this period, contextualized bythe lured sound scape of Dahlke's multichannel sound work, the exhibition will reflect on theambition of this nearly utopian period of creation in Düsseldorf. In addition to documentaryphotographs of the action at Ratinger Hof from the archive of Carmen Knoebel, we will present sound works by Katharina Fritsch produced by Dahlke's label Ata Tak, a poetry performance by Martin Kippenber-ger and Ulrich Meister at the Hof, performances curated by Knoebel for DIA Köln and documenta VII with Dahlke, The Red Crayola, Mittagspause, and Babeth Mondini-VanLoo, an archive of albums published by Ata Tak, and art works by Moritz Reichelt and Milan Kunc that survey the graphic irreverence which typified this time.

In The Day the Earth Stood Still, an immersive sonic experience is realized through a four-channel installation which continuously reconfigures the source and orientation of the sound. Driven by a sampler to a quadraphonic speaker arrangement, long dissonant lines of sound draw us into their subtle nuances. Evolved from fragments of classical composition, these motives are stretched rhythmically and harmonically out into time's horizon, extending our senses towards a vanishing point.

The exhibition project is co-curated by Lee Plested and Maximilian Schäffer. A special limited print publication of Der Tag, an dem die Erde Still steht is available at the gallery.