I-opener Exhibition Day 1: How to Think Like a Forest When You’ve Been Raised by Screens

As part of Berlin Science Week, this exhibition directed by Oliver Juan and curated by Zuleykha Ibad brings together art-science voices Vincent Jondeau and Benjamin Claux. The exhibition bridges scientific research, ecological sensitivity, and speculative imaginaries to tackle the questions: 

How does an ecosystem disappear? How does it shape the way we imagine the future?

In Verschwinden, Vincent Jondeau explores the disappearance of plant life through a poetic and deeply personal archive. The installation juxtaposes botanical illustrations drawn by his ancestor in the late 19th century with contemporary photographs taken in and around northern Berlin. Rather than looking back with nostalgia, the work creates a conversation between two moments: one in which species were still being discovered, and another in which extinction is the norm. 

 Benjamin Claux’s installation Apocalypse Now? moves through a different register less archival, more speculative. Developed in dialogue with a microscopy lab at CNRS in Lille, it combines scientific imagery of meteorites, fabric-based constructions, and digital video. The work explores how scientific imagery can both clarify and distort, and how visual culture shapes collective imaginaries of disaster. 

Through their practice, the artists interrogate how memory, belief systems, and ecological urgency intersect in our contemporary time.