The meaning of ‘Home’ has become ever more elusive, threatened and complex, especially in these times of financial uncertainty, globalism, hyper technological development, terrorism, domestic violence, environmental crises and rapid urban change.
Yet Home remains a solid universal archetype, a defining experience which runs through humanity as a foundation of our being. Home as the mold in which we are formed, a nuclear unit which reflects on the vast constellation of society as a whole, a mini cosmos. in the words of anthropologist Joseph Campbell, home is an extension of the womb, a cradle in which we are developed until we reach the age of maturity when we are ready to face the world.
One of the biggest ruptures I find in today’s society is the sense of alienation of man towards self, thy neighbor, towards trees and animals, the environment and planet, towards political systems, consumption chains, towards the possibility of peace, towards embracing that which is divine. a overall existential pain of exile. The underlying assumption in creating the HomeBase project is that the role of the artist has been and will always will be crucial in penetrating areas of darkness, shedding light, and integrating the ‘shadow’ (Jung) into a fuller existential dimension of ‘human being’.
Artists have the tools and the means to work both individually and collaboratively within a communal context, to address aspects of the everyday, finding creative questions and solutions for a better, more sensible, meaningful and sensual future – if you will – a home coming at large.
Looking at home as a window into questions of identity – both on an individual and social scale – enables the intertwining of the banalities of the everyday along with the deeper aspirations of art into one holistic equation. Through an intimate yet profound exploration of home rooted in community and responding to the specificity of a site / building / community / neighborhood, a greater understanding of ‘self’ and ‘other’ can grow – thus surfacing critical issues in society and awakening a new consciousness of interconnectedness and compassion. no longer the disconnect of art from life, no longer the elitist divide from art lovers and the community – but rather the direct raw friction of art in our everyday experience as a way for positive eruption of education, as a what towards evolution.
To pursue our goals, HomeBase situates its activity in the intersection of contemporary art and social entrepreneurship and utilizes two unique models to explore the meaning of home – A six week traveling HomeBase structure, titled HomeBase Nomad, and a three months residency in development of a a year round home and headquarters for HomeBase in Berlin titled HomeBase LAB.
An essential aspect of he HomeBase project is that it is an artist run initiative. It functions as a collaborative of artists and social entrepreneurs who come together to create and produce the project along the notion of Joseph Beuys ‘social sculpture’, functioning as a seismograph of society and as agents of change. In addition to the core HomeBase team, the changing group of international artists from different medias who are invited to participate, make this an ever changing, growing family of creative critical minds, which so far includes more that 80 artists.
Through their creative / constructive processes they reflect on various notions of home - from intimate questions of identity and belonging, to detecting the meaning of home in the immediate urban and human setting around them, to confronting wider ethical and political questions in regards to real world problems, such as urban change, environmental issues, homelessness and human rights.
After traveling for over five years through neighborhoods in New York City and Berlin, receiving prominent acknowledgment from the art world and the press in venues such as The new York Times and VOLTA as ‘a leading model of public art’, and functioning as a source of inspiration for other leading artists initiatives, organizations, institutions and communities world wide, we are excited to be building here at Thulestrasse 54 in Pankow, Berlin, at the old Engelhardt brewery, a home for HomeBase.
To open up the path for years ahead, gain more sustainability, and deepen the cultural impact of the project on an international level we are currently offering HomeBase Service and creating at the HB LAB an incubator for generating knowledge, expertise, training and leadership.
Beyong an ongoing dialog with the world of contemporary art, our vision for the future is conceived in relation to other innovative organizations, which include public policy making and entrepreneurial social enterprises, such as Doctors Without Borders, Habitat for Humanity, and TED and is inspired by leaders such as Jane Adams Hull house. Like these ground breaking initiatives we believe that HomeBase holds the potential to become the next artistic and human movement – a light house of creativity in these critical times of uncertainty.
Anat Litwin
Jan 29th, 2012,
HB LAB Berlin