Universal Cube

Developed in 2006, the Universal Cube (UC) is an experimental exhibition platform for contemporary art in different media. It has an area of approx. 1,200 sqm.

The UC is a kind of “external room” of the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig (Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig). It was created as a project by the HGB’s “Class of Installation and Space”. Its main purpose is to give students the chance to exhibit in the heart of Leipzig’s art scene and thereby gain vital practical experience.

Beyond the higher education context, the UC occupies a strategic position between the different focal points of Leipzig’s art scene. It is very close to the galleries based in the Spinnerei, it is a neighbour to the Columbus Art Foundation and it is actually part of Halle 14. As is traditional for autonomous projects, however, the UC is not subject to the kind of specific constraints that affect commercial galleries and public institutions. It sees itself as a temporary project without any fixed termination, which will last for as long as the commitment of its players permits and as long as there is a need for the platform it provides.

This is a discursive place where various questions from the field of current contemporary art can be explored in a pragmatic way.

The exhibition hall’s spatial texture is structured by the four constructed “cubes”. They are an exception to the derelict appearance retained by much of the hall. The cubes are like white “satellites”; their very brightly-lit interior space is clearly distinct from the post-industrial atmosphere of the pre-existing setting. The spatial display created by the cubes’ arrangement is intended as a scenographic spatial composition, and as a sculpture on a grand scale. Not only do they interrupt the dominant rows of columns,their positioning also clearly contradicts the dictates of the exhibition hall, creating a strong distinction between the installed cubes and their spatial context. The exhibition programme is based around the Spinnerei’s main gallery weekends. Since 2006, the UC has hosted overview exhibitions by European institutes of higher art education to coincide with every Spring Tour. An exhibition of work by HGB students, directed by different curators every year, is held to mark the Autumn Tour. In between these events, UC hosts open exhibitions and collaborative and experimental projects, directed by students, faculty members or invited guests which are often focusing on exhibition as a part of artistic practice. Joachim Blank

Idea, planning and implementation (2006):

Joachim Blank, Philipp Köhler, Sebastian Fischer, Jörg Schütze, Andreas Link, Tibor Müller, Murat Kosemen, Roozbeeh Asmani, Ronny Szillo,

Stephan Höhne, Hein Godehart-Petschulat, Ulrike Friedrich, Kerstin Rudolph, Fabian Bechtle et al.

Project consultant: Andreas Grahl

Artistic director (since 2006):

Joachim Blank, Andreas Grahl, together with students of the Class of Installation and Space

With the kind assistance of the Federkiel Foundation, Halle 14, Gips Lafarge, the Friends of the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig, the Industrie- und Handelskammer (chamber of commerce) of Leipzig et al.