SHAKE WELL 

A free, open and functioning society is one where ideas, opinions and perspectives are encouraged to meet, discuss and influence one another – if not to reach a shared consensus then to find the middle ground and discover we have more in common than not. But with everybody living in their own bubble, where to find that unshaken ground?

In science, Brownian Motion is the name applied to the random movement of particles, atoms and molecules in a liquid or gas that causes them to collide, influence and combine. This also reflects on how science and societies move forward. Some scientific discoveries come from unexpected results, from bringing elements, ideas that are not necessarily related. The demographics change by constant movement of people, the flow changes societies, cultures, languages, cuisine. We change generations after generations, encountering each other, colliding with each other, transforming each other. 

By mixing things up, whether in a test tube or a public debate, new connections, new reactions, new points of view emerge that wouldn’t have done so without being Shaken Well.

Different art forms, approaches and ideas can make us see a subject in new ways too. A live science discussion in front of a silent film might offer serendipitous moments of insight. Combining an installation with an audio piece may offer a new perspective or meaning. An orchestra playing a classical piece in an unexpected place, could offer a new perception on music.

Shake Well offers a playful and radical approach to curation while actively encouraging people to shake up their own viewpoints, give space to serendipity and consider colliding ideas with those they might not agree with. Because serendipity is the spice of life.

Ilka Bickmann, Irem Couchouron, Sibylle Grunze, Kerstin Hoppenhaus, Tom Millen

SILBERSALZ Curators