GRAU at the Kunsthaus Hamburg

Timon & Melchior Grau are showing the immersive light sculpture Bonfire (2021) at the Kunsthaus Hamburg. The large-format digital bonfire transforms the Kunsthaus into a participatory space that invites people to experience the museum space in social application.

To mark the 60th anniversary, Anna Nowak, the director of the Hamburg Kunsthaus, is staging four immersive sound installations with the exhibition "Once in a Blue Moon", Light- and color installations as well as an extensive performance program around the Bonfire (2021). The exhibition opens up a new perspective on the institution as an applied space and platform for coming together. In keeping with this, drinks will be served in the exhibition space and opening hours will be moved to the late evening hours.

The first people have already gathered around the Light of the fire, telling stories, celebrating rituals and creating communities. Timon & Melchior Grau take up this archaic symbol of fire with the sculpture Bonfire (2021) and transforms the art institution into a dynamic space. The futuristic light sculpture presents an expressive light performance that creates an immersive light experience. Feelings of closeness and warmth, but also of being overwhelmed, are activated by Bonfire.

Timon & Melchior Grau blur the boundaries between conceptual art, industrial design and anthropology by translating sculptural stagings into applied lighting products, radically expanding the tradition of pop art. Timon & Melchior Grau have been working together as an artist duo since 2010 and studied at the Berlin University of the Arts under Professor Hito Steyerl and Ai Weiwei before graduating from the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main.

Timon & Melchior Grau have exhibited in international institutions and biennials, including the Centre d'Art Contemporain Geneve as part of the Biennale de l'Image en Mouvement 2021, the Bergen Kunsthall as part of the Bergen Assembly 2022, the FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, the Julia Stoschek Foundation and the Kunsthaus in Hamburg. They have also won a number of international design awards, such as the German Design Award in Gold, Designpreis des Deutschen Bundes and Wallpaper* Design Award.

“Timon & Melchior Grau expand our relationship with Light. We believe in the creative and spiritual power of Light and want to use immersive and dynamic light sources to activate people's ability to feel their surroundings and reconnect."