Marlene Bart Artist Talk with Peter Gaugy Brussels 18 January 2025

In this conversation, Berlin-based artist and researcher Dr. Marlene Bart sits down with Peter Gaugy to discuss her recent solo exhibition, Boundary Objects, at Galerie Peter Gaugy in Brussels (22 Nov – 18 Jan 2025). The discussion explores the dissolution of taxonomies, the fluid nature of classification systems, and the critical role of boundary objects in bridging knowledge structures.

Bart's practice engages deeply with epistemology, materiality, and the archive, questioning how we construct order, impose categories, and navigate systems of knowledge. Building on her previous project, Ordnungswut (which investigated the human obsession with classification), Boundary Objects pushes further into the instability of order itself—revealing it as a state of constant negotiation rather than a rigid framework.

What are Boundary Objects?

This exhibition takes its title from a concept developed by sociologist Susan Leigh Star: boundary objects are artifacts that exist at the intersection of multiple disciplines, allowing different knowledge systems to communicate. They serve as translators between epistemic domains, much like fossils in paleontology or archival documents in art history.

In Bart’s work, bones, glass, and 3D-printed elements function as both literal and metaphorical boundary objects—objects that anchor meaning yet remain mutable, shifting in response to new contexts. Her sculptural forms act as unstable taxonomies, embodying both the persistence and fragility of classification systems.

Key Themes in This Talk:

Taxonomy & the Dissolution of Order – How scientific and artistic classification systems are constantly in flux.

Materiality & Metaphor – The significance of bone, glass, and 3D-printed forms as symbols of both stability and transformation.

Art as a Research Practice – How Bart’s approach parallels scientific and philosophical inquiry, challenging traditional distinctions between artistic creation and academic research.

The Epistemology of Objects – How certain artifacts define our historical and cultural narratives, and how artists can intervene in these structures.

Why Watch?

This wide-ranging and intellectually engaging conversation is essential viewing for:

Collectors seeking insight into the conceptual and material underpinnings of Bart’s sculptural practice.

Curators & Academics exploring the intersection of art, epistemology, and critical theory.

Artists & Thinkers interested in how contemporary art engages with systems of knowledge and classification.

Bart’s work does not simply engage with natural history, archives, and taxonomies—it actively interrogates their authority, questioning the structures that frame our understanding of objects, knowledge, and the passage of time.

Marlene Bart’s Approach to Art & Research

Dr. Marlene Bart is known for her rigorous interdisciplinary approach, bridging: Contemporary Art – Creating sculptural, installation-based, and graphic works . Science & Natural History – Investigating museum collections, taxonomies, and the epistemology of object. Critical Theory & Philosophy – Engaging with thinkers such as Foucault, Haraway, and Star to explore the politics of classification.

Her research-driven art practice brings scientific and artistic methodologies into dialogue, positioning art as an alternative mode of knowledge production—one that reveals the inherent instability of the structures we rely on to define the world.

Exhibition Context: Boundary Objects

In this Brussels exhibition, Bart presents a new sculptural piece that interweaves organic and artificial materials—a delicate yet forceful commentary on the ways knowledge is constructed, recorded, and challenged.

Bones, a recurring motif in her work, serve multiple roles: As physical structures, they reference museum collections, anatomical studies, and paleontology. As conceptual markers, they question what we choose to preserve, classify, and assign significance to. As artistic material, they form the foundation of unstable, shifting installations, mirroring the ever-evolving nature of historical and scientific knowledge.

Her sculptural assemblages operate as living archives—reconfigurable, adaptive, and resistant to static interpretation.
For more on Marlene Bart’s work, visit: www.marlenebart.com

For upcoming exhibitions, artist talks, and more, visit Galerie Peter Gaugy: www.petergaugy.com

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Видео Marlene Bart Artist Talk with Peter Gaugy Brussels 18 January 2025 канала Galerie Peter Gaugy