Alina Aldea’s solo show, “Germinations: A Laboratory of Forms,” transforms the Marktsaal of the Altes Dampfbad into a living organism—a space of transit where the boundaries between interior and exterior, the solid and the immaterial, dissolve.
Renowned for the rigor with which she explores volume and structure through drawing and installation, Aldea proposes an immersion into processuality—a laboratory-like inquiry into the genesis of form and controlled space.
The history of the Altes Dampfbad—steeped in the memory of water, steam, and physical transformations—resonates deeply with the site-specific intervention conceived especially for the Marktsaal.
The monumental installation made of down and feathers completely reconfigures the architectural dynamics of the hall. Its hybrid materiality, of a dense fragility, suspends the weight of the historic building and invites reflection on volatility. The down and feathers become particles of a three-dimensional drawing extended into space, a tactile mass that absorbs light and sound, fostering an atmosphere of isolation and introspection.
At the center of this sensory topography floats a suspended Neo-cocoon, a generative nucleus that animates the entire ensemble through the rhythm of an imperceptible yet persistent breath. This biomorphic structure, with its hybrid texture reminiscent of scaly or pearlescent skin, hovers in space like a capsule, questioning ideas of isolation, metamorphosis, and rebirth. Tethered to the ground by cables and technical frameworks that suggest irrigation or life-support systems, these formations operate through deeply organic sculptural movements and presences.
Form within Alina Aldea’s laboratory is never static; it is the representation of a germination seeking its equilibrium between the fragility of matter and the rigor of structure.
In counterpoint to the soft monumentality of the installation in the Marktsaal, a new series of drawings, titled Laboratory Journal, functions as a seismograph of artistic thought. Displayed like pages from a lab log, these works on paper constitute the theoretical core of the exhibition.
Alina Aldea’s line is simultaneously clinical and poetic, anchoring cellular structures, incomplete geometric grids, and expanding micro-universes onto the two-dimensional surface. Upon the immaculate surface of the paper, rigid geometric pipes and conduits are invaded by delicate inflorescences, capsules, suspended test tubes, and drifting points. The drawings are not mere preparatory sketches, but direct conceptual extensions of the experiment in the Marktsaal—a graphic inventory of hybrid forms existing somewhere on the threshold of biology and engineering, which are born, multiply, and seek to escape the rigors of the laboratory.
“Germinations: A Laboratory of Forms” thus becomes a profoundly immersive experience addressing the fragility of existence, adaptation, and the power of subtle mutations. Aldea successfully transforms the Marktsaal from a passive exhibition space into a living environment where art is not merely displayed but comes alive and breathes.
Curator: Diana Dochia, PhD
