Viktoria Binschtok: rainbow
About the Artwork
A viral social media experiment leaves the screen and becomes part of a landscape.
A rainbow grows between two glasses of water: the water draws the colors through a piece of tissue until they merge into a spectrum.
Viewed from one side, a complete rainbow appears; from the other, an interrupted one. The two images can never be seen at the same time. Only by shifting one's vantage point does the motif change—and with it, its meaning. The change of perspective thus becomes part of the work itself.
Through its placement at the roadside, the rainbow unfolds its own symbolic power and opens up space for association.
The two rainbows on either side of the poster are not opposites, but rather two possible states of a society in motion.
About the Artist
Viktoria Binschtok has been living and working in Berlin since 2002. Born in Moscow in 1972 and raised in Minden, she studied photography and media art at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst), where she received her diploma in Fine Arts in 2002. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Museum Folkwang in Essen, C/O Berlin, and the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.
In her photographic works, Binschtok explores the concept of visibility. Through surprising shifts in context, she examines what content is conveyed within the firmly defined boundaries of the image and what, guided by our knowledge, leads beyond them.
About the Project
As part of Art on Common Ground, Villa Aurora will bring artistic works in the form of large-format art posters to the urban space of Bitterfeld-Wolfen and the festival grounds at the Zschornewitz Power Plant from September 12 to 27, 2026.
Fellows of the Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V., an organization active in Germany and the United States, have created works that explore the location, social issues, and “the East.” Displayed in public spaces—on billboards and advertising spaces—these artworks can be encountered by a broad audience, sometimes quite by chance.
Art on Common Ground in Bitterfeld-Wolfen is a project of the Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House in cooperation with the Festival OSTEN.
About the Artworks
With rainbow, Viktoria Binschtok transfers a viral social media experiment into the landscape along Lutz-Born-Straße, making a shift in perspective the central motif of the work. Depending on the viewer's position, the artwork changes, pointing to the complexity and diversity of a society in motion.
・Location: Lutz-Born-Straße
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With her photographic work Banner des Friedens (Banner of Peace), Sonya Schönberger makes traces visible that were left long ago in the wet concrete of a housing estate in Wolfen. On the Straße der Chemiearbeiter (Street of the Chemical Workers), the artwork inquires into the meaning of these everyday found objects.・Location: Straße der Chemiearbeiter
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In her poster artwork motif, Luise Schröder engages with the independent women's and lesbian movement of the 1980s and 1990s in the GDR. The poster's location is in the immediate vicinity of the women's center "Frauen helfen Frauen e. V." (Women Helping Women), which continues to actively advocate for the concerns of women and girls to this day.・Location: Dessauer Allee
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To the Locations
The locations of the exhibited works are within the city of Bitterfeld-Wolfen, as well as the Festival OSTEN area. Click on the map to enlarge the view. Click the link below to view an overview of the locations:
→ To the map
To the Routes
In addition to the locations in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, the art posters will be on display at the Festival OSTEN area at the Zschornewitz power plant. A festival bus will run between the Bitterfeld train station and Zschornewitz. Click the link below to view the festival bus schedule: → To the schedule
It takes about twenty minutes to cycle around the exhibition venues in Bitterfeld-Wolfen. Click on the route to enlarge the view. Click the following link to view the route:
→ To the route
Partner
Der Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V. wird gefördert vom Auswärtigen Amt und von dem Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien.
