For almost eighty years, Bärenzwinger, Berlin’s former bear pit, was home to the heraldic animals. After the death of the city’s last bear, Schnute, the building’s fate remained unclear — until fall 2017, when the enclosure finally found its new purpose as an exhibition venue. For its current show, artists Miriam Jonas and Andreas Greiner have made use of the architecture and confined space to demonstrate the fluidity of the boundary between animals and humans. In Jonas’ installation, visitors are required to take the animal’s perspective, suddenly finding themselves behind bars, crawling through hatches, and feeling the underfloor heating right beneath their feet. The interior of the cages is painted in Baker-Miller pink — the same color used in American prisons to keep inmates calm. While Jonas simulates a firsthand experience of the strains the bears would have felt, Greiner has given a habitat to new life: Bioluminescent algae glows in a darkened pantry, and has formed its very own biotope in the enclosure outside. (Text: Laura Storfner / Photos (im Uhrzeigersinn): Tobias Wilmann / Fernando Gutiérrez Juárez)
Bärenzwinger, Im Köllnischen Park, 10179 Berlin-Mitte; map
Habitat: Miriam Jonas and Andreas Greiner, through 6.5.2018
