AESTHETIC IMAGINARIES
INTRODUCTION
Objectives
This project consists of a selection of artworks in public archives (e.g. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and Deutsch Fotothek) and online associated with open-cast mining in Lusatia, where mining activities have caused significant modifications to the landscape. Artists featured in this curation include Gerhard David, Karl-Heinz Völker, Dieter Dreßler, Jan Buck, Barbara Raetsch, Jürgen Matschie and Kat Austen. These artists portrayed Lusatia’s mining landscapes, characterized by the prevalence of mining excavators, power plants and smoking chimneys. The selected public archives offer valuable resources for researchers interested in the art collection of the former East Germany. These archives are freely accessible and provide an extensive collection of images. Additionally, the images are available under the Creative Commons license, permitting their unrestricted use. It is important to note that the curation of these images does not aim to provide a definitive historical account of the mining industry in Lusatia. Instead, its purpose is to showcase the stylistic changes seen in artworks depicting the mining landscapes of Lusatia over a period spanning from the mid-20th century to the present.
This project is made up of two parts: The first part traces the development of the mining landscapes in Lusatia through visual representations created by these artists in combination with literature review. The second part seeks to re-examine the aesthetics of these artworks within the context of Anthropocene, shedding light on the evolving relationship between nature and society.
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I argue that the visions of the artworks presented in the first part of this project can be read in parallel with Nicholas Mirzoeff’s (2015:228) critique of the Impressionist master painter Claude Monet as an aestheticization of environmental destruction. Mirzoeff argues that modernism can be reinterpreted in the context of people’s desensitization to the deteriorating environment. He suggests that the aesthetics of the Anthropocene, influenced by imperial aesthetics, have numbed our perception of modern industrial pollution. This concept can also be applied to phenomena such as colorful sunsets resulting from light scattering by soot and smoke particulates in air or the aestheticized representation of large-scale mining in the works of Jan Buck and his contemporaries. When air particulates and pollutants emitted from mining, power plants and factories, the industrial pollutants combine with natural atmospheric phenomena such as sunshine, fog, and clouds and transmute into visual elements of modernism. This desensitization demands a re-reading of the avant-garde and modernism, as our current climate requires a different kind of aesthetic and sensory attention beyond the modernist emphasis on form and colour.
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Image Credit: Braunkohle, Lausitzer Revier, Schurrenabbau von Auraß, Oskar (Herstellung) (Fotograf), Germany. Source: Europeana. Public Domain.
Mining Landscapes in Lusatia
The Lusatian landscape in eastern Germany, also known as Lausitz in German, has experienced a profound transformation throughout its history due to lignite mining. From the late 18th century to the present day, the region's economy, environment, and culture have been shaped by the extraction of lignite. This article explores the chronological evolution of the Lusatian landscape and its impact on artistic expressions, particularly in landscape painting. It delves into the sociotechnical imaginaries that influenced the region's physical landscape and artistic depictions, showcasing the interplay between science, technology, culture, and art.
A Brief Chronology
Late 18th Century: The Birth of Lignite Mining
The late 18th century marked the beginning of a significant transition in the Lusatian landscape. The discovery of lignite, a form of coal, laid the foundation for an industry that would shape the region's future. Initially, mining operations were small-scale and conducted underground. The extraction of lignite offered new economic opportunities and slowly started to alter the region's natural features. However, the impact on the landscape was still relatively limited during this period.
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Early 20th Century: The Shift to Opencast Mining
As the 20th century dawned, the mining industry in Lusatia underwent a substantial transformation. Large-scale opencast surface mining emerged as the dominant method of extraction. This shift allowed for greater efficiency and increased coal production. Over the following years, the industry continued to expand, reshaping the landscape on a larger scale. The once-pristine natural environment gradually gave way to vast mining areas, altering the region's topography and visual identity.
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Aesthetic practices of industrial landscapes in the 20th century
Modernism, as a worldwide movement in society and culture, emerged from the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century to establish a new connection with the experiences and values of modern industrial life (Brooker 2003:164). Within the realm of fine arts, modernism represented a departure from tradition and a simultaneous quest for innovative forms of artistic expression. Against the backdrop of industrialization and rapid societal transformations, this movement led to a period of experimentation in the arts, where artists across the globe employed novel imagery, materials, and techniques to create artworks that they believed better captured the realities and aspirations of contemporary societies. Industrial landscapes, in particular, provided a fresh avenue of creative representation, where artists experimented with dramatic colours and expressionistic styles according to their sensory perception of the environment. A striking example is Jan Buck’s Tagebau-Cottbus-Nord, 1982 (see Image 1), a painting showing the extraction lignite from an opencast mine, depicted with powerful lines and jarring colours. The artworks presented in this section were created in the GDR and during the transition time after the reunification. Through these artworks, I intend to discuss how the Lusatian mining landscapes have allowed artists to manipulate these elements and create scenes that aestheticize disturbed lands.
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Image 1. Jan Buck. Tagebau-Cottbus-Nord, 1982. © Wendish Museum Cottbus.
A Brief Chronology
1940s: Lignite as the Primary Energy Source
The immense transformation of the Lusatian landscape, predominantly shaped by agriculture until the 1940s, into the energy center of the GDR had a significant influence on the lives of its inhabitants and the art produced in the region (Budar et al. 2019). Artwork such as Gerhard David’s Kohlebagger (see Image 2) depicted a typical excavator commonly used in the opencast mining landscapes of Lower Lusatia during the time of the GDR. The monumental representation of the machine symbolized the narrative of economic development and social change in line with communist ideals.
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The post-World War II era brought significant changes to the Lusatian landscape, as lignite became the primary energy source in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The region, particularly the Cottbus area, emerged as a prominent hub for lignite mining and electricity generation. The demand for coal soared, and the industry expanded rapidly to meet the energy needs of the country. The mining operations left an indelible mark on the region, both in terms of environmental impact and societal changes.
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Image 2. Gerhard David (1920-1976). Kohlebagger, 1949. © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.
1950s-60s
1950s-60s: Art as Political Ideology​
During the 1950s to the 1970s, art in the GDR primarily served as a tool for political ideology. Artists, museums, and exhibition organizers faced political interventions, resulting in the confinement of artistic style to socialist realism (Schirmer 2006). The emphasis was on the personal engagement of artists with the subject matter, particularly in relation to industrial factories and the labor force (Beyer 1973). This period witnessed the emergence of artistic depictions of the lignite mining landscape and its people, portraying economic progress achieved through active workers' involvement in altering the natural environment to meet people's needs (ibid). For instance, Dieter Dreßler’s Landschaft 'Schwarze Pumpe' (see Image 3) and Karl-Heinz Völker’s Landschaft (see Image 4) depicted the technological development of lignite-fueled power plants in the Socialist Realism style.
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Image 3. Dieter Dreßler. Landschaft 'Schwarze Pumpe', 1962. © Deutsche Fotothek / Rudolph Kramer; Photo by Rudolph Kramer.
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Image 4. Karl-Heinz Völker (1920-). Landschaft, 1978. © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.
1970s-80s
1970s-80s: Diversification and Cultural Shift
The introduction of the "Weite und Vielfalt" (breadth and diversity) art policy by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1971 marked a shift in artistic expression (Schirmer 2006). This policy shift led to a new generation of artists who expanded the canon of realistic art and explored diverse themes and styles of modernism. Stronger partnerships between the regional government, the Artists' Association, and increased state commissioning facilitated the influx of young artists and enriched the cultural landscape of the district(Schierz 1986). The art scene became more vibrant and dynamic, with greater diversity in ideas, styles, and artistic signatures. Artworks such as Jan Buck’s Kraftwerk Boxberg (see Image 5) witnessed the rapid growth of the industrial society and depicted the chimneys of the power plant blowing smoke into the air during the height of lignite extraction in 1971. Another painting by Jan Buck, Tagebau-Cottbus-Nord, 1982 (see Image 1) portrayed the industrial progress of mining in Lusatia, symbolized by the overburden conveyor bridge. Jan Buck creates this picture of the Lusatian opencast mining landscape with an expressionist style and intense colours. Heavy excavators engulfed the land and turned it into a desolate desert, and the sky was stained red by the sunset.
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Image 5. Jan Buck. Kraftwerk Boxberg, 1971. © Deutsche Fotothek / Waltraud Rabich; Photo by Waltraud Rabich.
1970s-80s
Energiepleinair: Celebrating Industrialization
The "Energiepleinair" (Energy Plein-air), an art event initiated in 1977 by the Council of the Cottbus district, local companies, and the artists' association, contributed to the artistic vibrancy by celebrating friendship between the Soviet Union and other socialist countries (Schierz 1986). The event aimed to artistically capture the development of the Cottbus district as the coal-energy center of the GDR and pay tribute to those who contributed to the country's strength under the party's leadership (Sperling 2018). Artists from various districts, including Cottbus, Frankfurt (Oder), Potsdam, and the Sorbian artist circle, as well as from partner cities in the USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania, were invited to participate (Sperling 2018, Kliem 2002). The selected artworks reflected an optimistic approach to socialist industrialization, with some artists exploring alternative artistic solutions to depict the industrialized landscape, but only a few individual works deviated from the overall positive portrayal of the subject matter (Sperling 2018). The results of the Plein Air events were presented to the public through exhibitions, and artworks were acquired and added to the collections of Lausitz museums and art galleries (Kliem 2002). The 1980s witnessed continuous artistic breakthroughs and experimentation within the GDR's art scene.
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After participating in the Energiepleinair in Cottbus in the early 1980s, Barbara Raetsch received a commission for artistic work in the open-pit mining region of Lusatia. She visited the mining site repeatedly and created works depicting the abandoned landscape, which held a strong aesthetic appeal for the artist (SKD 1982). Created in 1982, Barbara Raetsch's Große Tagebaulandschaft (see Image 6) bears witness to the inspiration derived from her experiences in the open-pit mining landscape.
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Image 6. Barbara Raetsch (1936-). Große Tagebaulandschaft, 1982. © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.
1970s-80s
Jürgen Matschie is known for his long-standing artistic practice in documentary photography, whose work is dedicated to the artistic documentation of the mining landscapes of the Lusatia region and vividly depiction of the historical and societal transformations of the past decades (SKD 2011). In 1985, photographer Jürgen Matschie’s large-format photograph series, Tagebaulandschaft (see Image 7), documented the sublime sense of the scale of lignite excavation with relentless detail.
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1980s: Environmental Consequences and Social Disruption
During the 1980s, the lignite mining industry in Lusatia reached its peak. Under the GDR, the mines were nationalized and expanded, making Germany the world's largest coal producer by 1975. However, this rapid growth came at a significant cost. The extraction and use of lignite led to extensive air, ground, and water pollution (Mellgard 2014). The mines consumed vast areas of land, resulting in the displacement of residents and the swallowing up of over 137 villages (Archiv Verschwundener Orte n.d.). The consequences of these mining activities were severe, leaving behind a legacy of environmental destruction and social disruption.
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Image 7. Jürgen Matschie. Tagebaulandschaft, 1985. © Deutsche Fotothek / Jürgen Matschie
1990s
1990s: Transformation and Rehabilitation
The fall of communism and the subsequent reunification of Germany in the early 1990s brought about substantial changes to the mining landscape of East Germany, including Lusatia. The privatization and reorganization of lignite mining led to the closure of mines and a profound transformation of the open-cast mining areas in Lusatia (Deshaies 2020). As mining operations ceased, the abandoned pits gradually transformed into large lakes, and this recultivation model became widely recognized for its success in restoring disturbed landscapes (ibid).
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The late 1990s witnessed a transformation of former mining areas in Lusatia in the context of Germany's renewable energy development policies (ibid). The region began to shift its approach to land use and resource management. Wind turbines started to be integrated into the landscape, showcasing Lusatia's commitment to sustainable energy practices. This transition toward renewable energy sources reflected the region's responsiveness to environmental concerns and its efforts to build a more sustainable future.
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Image credit: Karl Vouk. Natur_Natur, 2018. Photo of the artist.
1990s
This is exemplified in Jürgen Matschie’s twelve-part series "Gut Geisendorf," (see Image 8) which captures the deserted lands at the edge of the Welzow open-pit mine with an array of wind turbines in the background. In doing so, the series also raises important contemporary environmental issues, such as the exploitation of the landscape for energy generation and its direct and indirect consequences (SKD 2011).
Recognizing the shifting aesthetics and artistic concerns for industrial landscapes entails acknowledging of a constant re-drawing of boundaries of the definition of art, which is shaped not only by lineage of the artist's training and references but also influenced by the socio-technological context the political atmosphere of the time.
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Image 8. Jürgen Matschie (1953-). Gut Geisendorf, 07.02.2016. © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.
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