Now & Now

One hundred people from the Ruhr region have agreed to take part in an intense process of self-reflection together with the artist: in late summer 2021 and again in early 2023 they were filmed looking into a mirror. They looked at two moments in their lives and how they had grown in between. The youngest participant was 9 when the project started and the oldest is now 82–all of them think in their own way about trying to find their place in the world, eyeing the start of a new chapter in their lives with concern or looking back with pride on what they have achieved.

From the individual realities in this two-year project, a human panorama is created that was presented during Ruhrtriennale 23 as an installation in the Turbinenhalle in Bochum. This is where the initial recordings for Now & Now were made during Ruhrtriennale 21, while 21–Memories of Growing Up could be seen in the front section of the hall. Back then, everyone wore masks, it had not been decided who Germany’s new Chancellor would be and Kyiv was not a war zone. During Ruhrtriennale 23 the Turbinenhalle was a space for reflection, where all visitors have been invited to encounter the recorded conversations and life-size video portraits in their own time.

Now & Now is a unique snapshot that enables us to see the same person in two different presents in dialogue with each other, and questioning both themselves and society. It is the third work from Mats Staub for the Ruhrtriennale and framed the beginning and end of Barbara Frey’s Artistic Directorship in a unique way.