The painting DAS GROSSE GELINGEN (250 × 600 cm, oil on canvas), created by us over a period of 30 days during the climate justice movement’s resistance in Lützerath, was carried in a procession reminiscent of leafcutter ants from the barn of Eckardt Heukamp, the last resident of the small village, to the edge of the Garzweiler open-cast mine.
The work became part of the resistance by activists opposing the actions of RWE and political decision-makers, whose continued expansion of lignite extraction and combustion for electricity generation contradicts scientific findings and is regarded as profoundly outdated and environmentally destructive.
Together with BAZON BROCK, whom we invited to join us in a shared statement, we presented the painting on 14 August 2021 as part of the art intervention STOP THE BEAST, confronting the BEAST—the coal excavator itself.
Photo: m@arcel.press
The painting that we presented on 14 August 2021 in Lützerath, together with BAZON BROCK, as part of the statement STOP THE BEAST, directly confronting the BEAST—the coal excavator—was given the significant title DAS GROSSE GELINGEN.
The question mark (?), deliberately placed instead of the letter ß in the German word großen, points to the critical development that lies between the possibility of a great achievement and the possibility of a profound failure in the future.
It is a title that speaks directly to our present time.
We all contribute—through our actions or our inaction—to whether humanity succeeds in achieving the necessary turnaround in confronting the climate catastrophe, the first signs of which are already sending shockwaves through our societies.
Following the action in Lützerath in 2021, we set out with the painting as part of the long-term performance ZUKUNFTSSPAZIERGANG (WALKING INTO THE FUTURE).
In the years that followed, together with Fridays for Future (FFF) and many other people, we carried the painting across Germany in several stages, travelling mostly on foot. Wherever we brought the painting, we used it to raise awareness and advocate for achieving the 1.5°C climate target established at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.
