Stay with Me

The exhibition brings together the work of Viennese walking artist Michael Höpfner
 and Zurich-based sound artist Magda Drozd.

Taking its cue from the book Resonance. A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World, by German sociologist Hartmut Rosa, the exhibition explores the concept of resonance. Not in the sense of total harmony but as a dynamic relationship wherein subject and world touch each other to stimulate vibrancy and mutual transformation.

Putting aside the contemplative vision of the mountain and favouring a speculative approach to being-with-the-mountain, the exhibition questions the possibility of considering the resonant relationship as a transformative and ameliorative experience in the dialogue between human and non-human, at this time of “climate collapse”, as defined by UN Secretary General António Guterres.

The exhibition presents the works of artist Magda Drozd and walking artist Michael Höpfner, produced especially for this project, which originated from Höpfner
’s walks in the Alps and Drozd’s field recordings in the cross-border territories between Italy and France.
The works provide an unprecedented experience of the mountain, in which access to its fruition beyond what is known and rational appears to be fundamental.

The artists open themselves up to the fleeting and the unpredictable, interpreting the relationship with the mountains from an abstract standpoint. The experience of the exhibition invites visitors to enter a profound metaphysical dimension in which essence, attention and disenchantment are prerequisites for a different way of experiencing the present time.