About life in the Anthropocene

Over the past 150 years, oil has not only fueled our machines, but also our fantasies, desires and dreams. Countless films tell of our unprecedented relationship with this "black gold", which has become a catalyst for growth and consumption - and thus a symbol of freedom, modernity and prosperity. In PETRO-MELANCHOLIE. DAS ERDÖLZEITALTER IM SPIEGEL DER KUNST, director Mathias Frick undertakes a cinematic journey to different times and regions of the world. The special view of contemporary artists relentlessly shows us our ambivalent relationship to this material.