Aerial photograph showing the Hygiene Museum and pavilions at the International Hygiene Exposition in 1931
courtesy of the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, Dresden
Greg Barton : How do you approach the role of didacticism in an exhibition such as Dirt ?
Greg Barton : Spanning generations in addition to geographies, viewers are led through many of the architectural implications and urban consequences of dirt; how do you see the development of modernism in relation to hygienic advancements? Looking forward, is Fresh Kills positioned as a redemptive opportunity? Kate Forde : In the exhibition we explore the relationship between modernism and ‘dirt’ through a close examination of the Deutsches Hygiene Museum in Dresden. In 1930 the Museum was set up in its permanent home designed by the architect Wilhelm Kreiss.With its shining white walls, flat roof, huge windows and integration of light and fresh air the building was an architectural monument to rationality and transparency in modern medical science. Inside visitors could learn about issues relating to health-care and human anatomy and the way that new technologies (such as x-rays and microscopes) were radically altering the way in which the human body could be viewed and understood.The preoccupation with cleanliness and hygiene that is evident in this building is characteristic of modern architecture of this period in Europe and North America and must be understood in the context of new advancements in germ theory as well as the aftermath of World
War One – which was characterised by the dirt and disease of the trenches. The project to transform Fresh Kills suggests that even a land considered irretrievably damaged by the impact of human activity and consumption can be renewed.The anthropologist Robin Nagle has written eloquently about this subject, suggesting that the dump can be understood as a modern incarnation of a public commons – shared land set aside for the benefit of all.
Kate Forde :The aim of our exhibition programme at Wellcome Collection is to explore the connections between life, medicine and art.The way in which we do this is to develop interdisciplinary shows that don’t present purely didactic narratives about the subjects we explore but instead ask questions, offer up interpretations, and ultimately propose that meaning is created as much by the visitors who come to see them as by our methods of display. One of the underlying principles behind these exhibitions is an acknowledgement that human experiences do not take place in isolation, but are enriched by experiences and memories from many different aspects of our lives.We believe therefore that it is valuable to examine the relationships between apparently disparate disciplines –science and art for example (which are traditionally presented as inhabiting separate spheres). One of the challenges of working with scientific material is that science is often communicated with a kind of confident assertiveness which means that people often assume it represents objective truth. In contrast to this we aim to show how scientific practice is as culturally dependent as all forms of activities within society, and to expand people’s awareness of what science is or might be.
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