Sculptural objects, queer futuring, and speculative fiction: Robin Schubert ‘25 presents first solo exhibition “Instinctual Forms” at Zemin Berlin

Robin Schubert ‘25 has recently presented their first solo exhibition, titled “Instinctual Forms.” Shown at Zemin Art Space in Berlin on May 24, 2024, the exhibition “sheds aesthetic appreciation and emerges as a speculative realm of queer ecology.” Robin aims to represent a new generation of sound sculpture artists, presenting the vulnerable shape of communal work and resistance.

The exhibition is the culmination of a year of research, exploration, play, and grief. Robin examines “sculptural objects as instruments, and instruments as vessels for ritual, storytelling, and embodiment of collectivity.” Analyzed through the lens of Queer Futuring and Speculative Fiction, the exhibition asks and provides tentative, ephemeral, and concrete examples of possible answers. Robin writes in the exhibition description, “Mimicking forms and figures found in nature provides alternative pathways to these answers, stepping beyond the institutions and oppression by taking inspiration from these emergent systems.”

“'Instinctual Forms' is an experiment in resistance through creating the worlds and spaces we want to live and exist within,” Robin explains. “The space that this exhibition created was one I was proud to be a part of, and the love that exists within the work was brought out in the people who participated.”

The mediums utilized in the exhibition consisted of sculptural work, interactive installations, paintings stretched on bedframes, as well as “zines, viscera, performance, noise, splinters, and love.” Some pieces were also previously displayed as part of Bard College Berlin’s Open Studios at the end of the semester; Robin notes that the course Advanced Painting with Prof. Dr. John Kleckner, who was also their advisor for an Independent Study, was a particular inspiration. 

By: Bard College Berlin Communications Staff

Post Date: 06-05-2024