The external view of the collection should result in new approaches to the content of the presentation. The aim is not only to enhance the collection, but also to penetrate it more deeply. In addition - and this is certainly an important aspect - the museum should present itself as a lively place of communication, whose collection does not freeze in its museality, but rather endures and promotes controversial interventions from outside in a lively and open manner.

From August 5, the Kunstraum: Morgenstrasse from Karlsruhe is showing its exhibition Come As You Are. The Absent Body in Art in the Graphic Room of the Zeppelin Museum. On the occasion of the current presentation of the legendary Shroud of Turin, curators Martin Heus and Jacob Birken explored the question of what we actually see when we look at this cloth.

In fact, countless questions are linked to this "work of art" - on the surface these are questions of faith, but behind the scenes they are also about questions of image theory and technology. How can it even be that Jesus' body was depicted in the cloth? Was it a miracle performed by the Son of God on earth, or just the trick of a "magician" who was able to carry out photographic processes long before they became known as a technique? Experts are engaged in bitter debates about this and there is no agreement in sight - which is why the more fundamental question should be whether images - painted, drawn or even photographed images - have the power to make us forget the absence of people. In short: are images able to close the gap that the loss of the body has left in life? In collaboration with the museum, the curators of the exhibition have investigated precisely this question. How do artists deal with this and what techniques do they use to make bodies visible?

For the Zeppelin Museum, this question is of particular current interest due to the donation of a Dix lithograph depicting the Veronica's sweatcloth. In addition, the exhibited works address photo-theoretical questions that will be relevant in the upcoming Andreas Feininger exhibition (opening on September 23).

In this exhibition, painting, video and performance art as well as photography will provide ample opportunity to explore the question of how bodies can be depicted. On display are works by Bruce Nauman, Via Lewandowsky, Jim Campbell, Axel Philipp, Jeffrey Vallance and Tobias Trutwin. These works are complemented by collection holdings, above all, of course, previously unseen prints by Otto Dix.

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