Matadero Madrid showcases an artistic essay by Armin Linke on man’s impact on the planet

Matadero Madrid and the Sorigué Foundation present the first solo exhibition in Spain by photographer and documentary filmmaker Armin Linke. The exhibition, entitled ‘Blind Sensorium: Visual Anthropology’ can be visited free of charge in Nave 0 at Matadero Madrid from 12 March to 20 May 2021. Armin Linke's work focuses on documenting the impact of globalisation and infrastructures on different local populations. With this exhibition, a co-production between the Sorigué Foundation and Matadero Madrid, the artist proposes a visual approach to climate change and its material landscape from a rigorous yet reflective perspective.

'Blind Sensorium: Visual Anthropology' is the result of a long-term collaboration between the artist and the Sorigué Foundation to create an extensive project on the Anthropocene - the name put forward by members of the scientific community for our geological epoch due to the significant and well-nigh irreversible impact that human activity has had on our planet’s ecosystems. The work has been presented in various formats in different European exhibitions and cultural programmes over the last few years. This exhibition, the first solo exhibition in Spain of Armin Linke's work, combines different aspects of this research and presents a selection of pieces that address the relationship between planetary ecosystems, political institutions and scientific infrastructures, through a visual analysis of the spaces where climate change has led to conflict.

With this exhibition, Matadero Madrid further develops the line of programming with which it has been tackling issues such as the climate emergency, ecology and sustainability since 2018, with the Instituto Mutante de Narrativas Ambientales (Mutant Institute of Environmental Narratives - IMNA) as its main exponent. Matadero's artistic laboratory for climate is producing new pieces by both Spanish and international artists in a wide range of formats: exhibitions, audiovisuals, texts, podcasts; proposing new forms of storytelling; initiating a television series devoted to climate fictions; promoting speculative design and projects in the field of environmental humanities; imagining the future of journalism; intervening in municipal policies; or, together with a team of researchers and creators, designing a cyborg garden for the Matadero that is capable of tempering the temperatures and the harshness of the site through vegetation. The ‘Blind Sensorium. Visual Anthropology’ exhibition is part of the Institute's programme and will serve as the starting point for a series of conferences, talks and meetings that will explore in depth the themes developed by the exhibition.