MIRROR IN TIME - Michelangelo Pistoletto, Erinna König

Michelangelo Pistolettos work “QR Code Possession – Autoritratto, from 2019-2023, preempts today’s discussion about digital IDs, anticipates potential chips in, or tattoed QR codes on, human bodies. Today in 2025, authoritarianism in the global West and North no longer represents a horror of the past, it has become the present. Pistoletto appeals to mankind with his message of ‘pace preventivo/ preventative peace.’ He proposes his vision of Terzo Paradiso, offering positivity and hope. Social commitment and personal responsibility is a topic Michelangelo Pistoletto and Erinna König share. MIRROR IN TIME is a call to action: remember the past, be alert and active in the present to work together toward a holistic, united future. —Uscha Pohl

Philosophically, Michelangelo Pistoletto explores new dimensions by representing time and infinity; socially, he is a driving force in the development of humanity. His work reflects, invites self-reflection and offers opportunities for personal involvement. While individual works are thought-provoking catalysts and solution suggestions, the Michelangelo Pistoletto Foundation in Italy as well as worldwide campaigns are real life implementations.

MIRROR IN TIME places Michelangelo Pistoletto’s future-oriented global work – which carries within the potential of what is to come – in direct context with Erinna König’s days as master student of Joseph Beuys, the ’actions’ and social environment at the Düsseldorf Art Academy (1967 to 1976). As active participants in the ’68 student generation, Erinna König and her colleagues brought art to the streets, participated in protests and fought for a student parliament, to which Erinna König was elected first president. An office for organizing actions—“Büro Olympia”—was founded, with Erinna König, Henning Brandis, Chris Reinecke, and Jörg Immendorff at its core.