An area of
investigation at the Museum is the role of dualisms in modern thought : Art /Science,
Subject/Object, Man/Nature, Intuition/Method, …
The Moebian strip illustrates
how even a simple and apparently straightforward dualism such as Inside/Outside
might turn out not to be that simple.
Ordinary surfaces always have two faces: think for example of the cylinder (Cat. Nr. 73). For these
surfaces it is possible to define an inside and an outside. If one puts Man on
one side and Nature on the other, they will never meet.
The Moebian strip has the peculiar property of
having only one side, so that it is impossible to call it either inside or outside.
When you start moving at one side you quickly arrive at the “other” side
without crossing and edge or making a hole. When you put Man on one side and Nature
on the other, they quickly move into one another.
The Moebian strip makes us question all dualisms in
the Modern Constitution (Cat. Nr. 48): do their elements always move into one
another? Does Science become Art and Art becomes Science? Does Intuition lead to Method and Method to Intuition, … . Are the dualisms of Modernity mere theoretical
constructs that we don’t need and better get rid off?
The Anthropocene is the epoch in which Man and
Nature can no longer be separated: Man is now changing Nature and Nature, in turn,
is changing Man. We are part of Nature.
