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The exhibition “Engine Room of the Gods. How our Future was Invented” at the Liebieghaus in Frankfurt presents theses that offer a new, unfamiliar view of antiquity.
To spatially translate the theses developed in the exhibition concept visually and medially.
Making a fresh perspective on antiquity visible and tangible through an overarching graphic concept and the use of multimedia technology.
Staging, design
Which role did natural sciences play in the ancient world? The exhibition “Engine Room of the Gods. How our Future was Invented” takes a closer look at this question and provides theories for a new, unfamiliar view of antiquity. The exhibition shows that the ancient world possessed extensive knowledge, not only in art and philosophy, but also in mathematics and astronomy. At the same time, the exhibition illustrates how natural sciences have developed and spread from antiquity to modern age. The important role of the Orient for research becomes clear. For the exhibition, the Liebieghaus has supplemented its own sculpture collection with 97 exhibits from renowned museum collections. These include the imposing marble statue of Atlas carrying the celestial globe and Jeff Koons’ “Apollo Kithara”, a statue of Apollo playing music. New and surprising contexts are created through the targeted placement of the loans.
The exhibition's unconventional view of antiquity is supported by the graphic concept developed by Atelier Markgraph. The technical elements of the graphics are inspired by diagrams from scientific literature. Disproportionate circular and linear elements refer to abstraction, analysis and mathematical methods. The exhibition space itself appears to be measured and becomes a walk-in technical drawing.
Vinzenz Brinkmann, curator of the exhibition and head of the Department of Antiquity and Asia at the Liebieghaus, explains: “[...] a dense fabric of graphics and media components, developed by the Frankfurt studio Markgraph, connects the isolated strands, clarifies the dependencies and sharpens the view of the theses developed in the exhibition.”
Cinema experiences already existed in ancient times. To substantiate this theory, the exhibition presents a miracle drum (zoetrope) that works in a similar way to a flip book. Two ancient bronze statuettes from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York were reproduced using a 3D printer. Both images show the same child chasing the same partridge in two successive phases of movement. The sequence of the figures was expanded into a set – also with the help of 3D printing – and arranged in a wonder drum. When the object rotates, a cinema sequence is created in front of the audience's eyes: the boy repeatedly tries to catch the partridge – but without success.
A world premiere: the exhibition reveals the secret of the “Antikythera Mechanism”. Decades of work have gone into reconstructing a highly complex, gear-driven device from ancient bronze fragments recovered from the sea close to the Greek island of Antikythera. Computer animations show how the calculating machine was able to determine the movements of celestial bodies and predict solar and lunar eclipses. Curator Vinzenz Brinkmann describes the mechanism as an “ancient analogue computer”.
Other ancient devices that Atelier Markgraph has brought to life for the exhibition: a mechanism for a revolving stage in Emperor Nero's palace complex Domus Aurea and an automaton theatre as a stage for a tragic legend.
