#7. Lecture Performance of B.
Niklas Goldbach
〈Architecture and Ethics-Artist talk and lecture performance〉

“STOP political correctness in architecture. But also: STOP confusing architecture and art.” Patrik Schuhmacher, architect and urban planner, 2014 on Facebook. Architects are confronted with moral categories in every step of their work – from the very beginning they are connected to the society they had to give a physical form to. With the rise of totalitarian political systems in Europe, ideological moralism was joined by the political: architecture was ethical only if it served a democratic system. Architecture provides a (national-) state not only with the necessary spaces, but also with images and metaphors. Thus, it becomes an important support of its political system. Nowadays, architecture is undergoing a transformation towards social participation: social reality and the built city are evolving at different speeds. Almost everywhere, conflict settlements are practically or theoretically at stake on the occasion of the “question of a good life”. How do artists perceive the urban space ? What changes should occur? And to whom does the city belong? These are some of the questions Berlin artist Niklas Goldbach addresses in his work and will that will be discussed during this in-depth Artist Talk and Lecture Performance on the occasion of the presentation of his work in the TOTAL Museum.
In his videos and photographies Goldbach is involved in the relation between architecture and ethics within modernist traditions and postmodern cities. Established between reality and fiction, Goldbach’s works use architectural concepts and elements to create ambiguous perceptions of man-made environments. He appropriates urban environments as stages to examine the relationship between subjectivity and hierarchical societal structures through the lens of a globally expanding interconnectivity of these sites. In his earlier video works, his often duplicated protagonists have colonised epic stages of modern architectural complexes, postmodern urban environments or alleged paradises defying civilisation, all finding their commonality as places oscillating between utopia and dystopia. In his earlier video works, his often duplicated protagonists have colonised epic stages of modern architectural complexes, postmodern urban environments or alleged paradises defying civilisation, all finding their commonality as places oscillating between utopia and dystopia.

Niklas Goldbach

Niklas Goldbach presented his works in numerous solo shows, group exhibitions, and festivals in venues such as the Berlinale, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, EMAF, Kasseler Dokfilmfest, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Galerie im Taxispalais Innsbruck, Museo Reina Sofia Madrid, Mori-Art Museum Tokyo, Shanghai 21st Century Minsheng Art Museum, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Cornerhouse Manchester, Barbican Arts Center London, S.M.A.K. Gent, Centre Pompidou Paris, Museum Ludwig Köln, Building Bridges Art Exchange Los Angeles, Kunsthaus Dresden, Museum Technische Sammlungen Dresden, ZKM Karlsruhe, Berlinische Galerie – Museum für moderne Kunst, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein n.b.k, Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart, Kunsthalle Osnabrück, Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, HMKV Dortmund, FotoFest Houston 2016, Fotobiennalen 2018 Denmark, documenta 14 public programs, Bergen Assembly 2019, Media Art Biennale Wroclaw 2021, Biennale für Freiburg 2021.