Exhibition and App on the theme of life with no consequences at the MK&G Hamburg

A life of no consequences, meaning living without leaving a negative impact on the world, would no doubt be a great way of heading off the climate crisis and preserving our planet for the generations to come. This reflection led to the creation of the exhibition called School of No Consequences. Exercises for a New Life, an artistic and discursive project by Friedrich von Borries at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (MK&G). Could the absence of consequences become a new regulatory ideal, like freedom, justice and equality – impossible to achieve, but worth pursuing? What implications would this pursuit have on the material and immaterial shaping of our everyday life, on the economic and social order, on our beliefs and on how we interact with others? Friedrich von Borries combines collection objects of the museum with a self-study room specially set up for the exhibition to create a new perspective on “sustainability” and to question supposedly universal notions of a “right way of living”. 
So what could really reduce our impact effectively? Not doing anything, giving things up, keeping distances, in other words, the things the pandemic has forced on us for months with the various counteracting measures that have been so hard to accept and follow. So what would happen if we used this time to consciously practise doing nothing? Not just to stop the coronavirus from spreading but also for the environment, for more social justice? 
As part of the School of No Consequences. Exercises for a New Life exhibition at the Museum for Arts and Crafts in Hamburg (MK&G), the Hamburg University of Fine Arts (HFBK) and MK&G have launched an App of the same name as a media and content extension of the exhibition. Until the exhibition opens at the MK&G—with the self-study room, historical models and even a “Scholarship for Doing Nothing”—when the Covid-19 lockdown in Germany is over, visitors can practise life without consequences at home. 
The free App allows experts to have their say and invites visitors to do lots of exercises and tasks to playfully try living this life without consequences. The App is intended for anyone who wants to ponder the state of our world and understand how their reality is linked to climate change and to social and political structures. There is an introductory tutorial for each of the twelve fields of action covered in the App, including waiting, decision-making, destruction, losing our conscience or solidarity. Entertaining interviews with experts in the fields will provide lots of food for thought. 
The App is a cooperative effort between the Hamburg University of Fine Arts (HFBK) and the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb) within the framework of the Hamburg Open Online University (HOOU). Friedrich von Borries developed it together with the Berlin-based art collective refrakt (Alexander Govoni and Carla Streckwall). The introductory tutorial with Friedrich von Borries was created by the Austrian director and documentary-maker, Jakob Brossmann. The initiative expands the scope of the exhibition and introduces many more people to thoughts and choices for a more sustainable future. Yet another example of how creativity can turn restrictions, like the temporary closure of museums, into an opportunity.

Christiane Bürklein

Exhibition: School of No Consequences. Exercises for a New Life. A project by Friedrich von Borries
opening at the end of the lockdown, slated to run until 9 May 2021 
at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (MK&G),
Hamburg, Germany
Images: see captions
01_MK_G_Schule_der_Folgenlosigkeit_Ausstellungsansicht_1 - Henning Rogge Find out more: https://www.mkg-hamburg.de/en/exhibitions/upcoming/school-of-no-consequences.html