Tesla Revisited

The theme of the exhibition builds a bridge to Nikola Tesla; here is a brief synopsis: Tesla‘s high demands on both form/aesthetics and content, which manifested not only in his scientific work but also in his daily life; his passion for invention; his conviction that scientists are like artists seek liberation from the material world; and his unique status in scientific and social history these are the thematic aspects explored by the exhibition.

The Tesla exhibition project combines two main themes: on the one hand, the theme of Tesla’s approach, research, inventions and discoveries being creative work comparable to the work of an artist.
On the other hand the theme of invention itself, which for Tesla implied the greatest exaltation of the human spirit, and is regarded by Michel Serres as the only authentic intellectual act.

The similarity between the inventor Nikola Tesla, who worked independently of traditional scientific research streams, and the artist, who strives for independence and autonomy, may be described in the words of Kleist as the lonely center of a lonely circle, in which for both the inventor and the artist, creation — in lofty terms — represents the only spark of life in the great realm of death.

In the juxtaposition of Nikola Tesla‘s own works with the artworks of the participating artists, the relationship between science and art is illuminated.

The manner in which invention – as the only authentic intellectual act – manifests in Tesla’s works and in the works of the artists is a crucial aspect of the exhibition.