Atlas of Ovens: The Perfect Loaf

A collective exhibition by Clémentine Vaultier, Ciel Grommen &  Maximiliaan Royakkers (Atlas of Ovens), Bernd & Hilla Becher, and Arjun Das, curated by the fantastic team of the Balcony.

The Perfect Loaf is the second chapter of the Extractive Imaginations exhibition series, and examines the overlap between the physiological human need to maintain a body temperature of 37°C and the (social) infrastructures we’ve developed to stay warm – what we define today as architecture. In other words, how did the harvesting of resources related to our quest for heat (initially wood, peat and coal) shaped social gatherings and the domestic space?

“The search for warmth created social and political forms of grouping, like vigils in the countryside: a characteristic element of traditional rural life, is well motivated by the search for warmth, as well as by the desire to 'enjoy a lamp, or fire maintained at common costs'. – Philippe Rahm.”

How and what do we extract to fire? More importantly, with whom do we share the resulting warmth? The exhibition looks at infrastructure in The Netherlands, particularly in The Hague.

The exhibition includes the works “Circular Ovens” and “Icônes Plastiques” of the Atlas of Ovens, as well as sculptural works by Arjun Das, and original prints by Bernd & Hilla Becher.