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Lukas Sterzenbach

@l.sterz

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exploring transience trough materiality
Academy of Fine Arts Munich
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Photo series from Accra, Ghana, 2026 Exported Responsibility, Escaping Perception In the European Union, around 6.9 million tonnes of textile waste accumulate every year. A significant share of this waste leaves Europe, disappearing from public view. Materials that are considered reusable or still functional are shipped to sites such as Agbogbloshie, where they are sorted into items of value and waste. This process generates not only recoverable materials but also highly toxic pollutants, including dioxins, heavy metals, and fine particulate matter. These contaminants enter the air, soil, and water, leaving lasting environmental and human consequences. A system emerges in which ecological and health consequences remain locally in Ghana. Responsibility is externalized, while the foundations of global consumption continue to be stabilized. by @l.sterz
A significant portion of Europe’s textile waste and electronic waste is exported and removed from public perception. Materials that are supposedly still functional or intended for reuse end up at dumping sites such as Agbogbloshie in Ghana, where they become waste. Devices are dismantled and burned in order to extract and resell metals such as copper, aluminum, and iron. In the process, not only reusable materials are produced, but also highly toxic substances such as dioxins, heavy metals, and fine particulate matter, which become part of the air, soil, and water. The toxic byproducts of recycling do not only become part of the environment, but also part of the bodies of workers and residents, in the form of respiratory diseases, neurological damage, and long-term strain on organs. A system emerges in which valuable raw materials are returned to the exporters, while the ecological and health-related consequences remain locally in Ghana. Responsibility is outsourced, while the foundations of global consumption continue to be sustained. Huge thank you to Boniface Ayindoo Anazoore, a student from Kumasi, who on slide four, five and six tells his perspective, working in Accra as a burner. by @l.sterz
Insights into byproduct series, shown at the abenst matter(s) exhibition 2025 as Part of the amazing new futures collaborative. This is one of the artworks I created in Johannesburg at the new futures residency, after researching about, and visiting mine dumbs and mining sites in and around Johannesburg. Byproducts Series I & II, 60.9 x 91.4 cm, Soweto mine dumps soil and hydrochloric acid on canvas. Thanks for the beatiful photo @therohitvalecha by @l.sterz
„Exported Goods“ and „Scrap Cycles“ presented at the Climate Biennale Vienna at Badeschiff Wien from 29.04.–03.05.2026 as part of the programme focus Solutions & Strategies Beginning with a research phase in March in Accra and Winneba, Ghana, the project evolved through site-based investigations in Agbogbloshie and the industrial area surrounding Tema Harbour, the largest harbour in Greater Accra, before continuing as an ongoing research practice in Vienna, Austria. Focusing on the exportation of textile and electronic waste, the research traces the connections between European consumption and systems of labour, extraction, and environmental exploitation that repeatedly culminate in Ghana. Photos by @nikasssw by @l.sterz
De/composing workshop and exhibition at the University of Education in Winneba, Ghana Together with the New Futures collaborative we had the honor to creative a workshop for the amazing students of the art university in winneba. My contribution focused on the act of play and creating new games as a methodology to learn about knowledge systems and community practices. by @l.sterz
Dichotomie der Vergänglichkeit, NODEPRSSIONROOM Solo exhibition 31.3 - 13.04. 2025 Eine Ästhetische Untersuchung der Vergänglichkeit verschiedener Materialien und dem Prozess einhergehende Gedanken. Die alltägliche repetitive Erfahrung von Umgebung und Handeln prägt den Blick. Ein Blick, der komplexen Narrativen unterliegt, die widerspiegeln, welchen Wert, Funktionen und Attribute Materialien ihrer alltäglichen Verwendung unterliegen. Jedes Material hat einen spezifischen ästhetischen Zustand, der die Natürlichkeit und Vielseitigkeit der Materialität widerspiegelt. Schlussfolgernd führt eine Transformation des Materials zu einer Transformation der Narrative. Im Rahmen der Ausstellung „Dichotomie der Vergänglichkeit“ behandle ich einige, dem Prozess unterliegende gedankliche Zweiteilungen, die sich teils ergänzen, teils gegenseitig ausschließen. Vergänglichkeit und Konsistenz, Entropie und Negative Entropie, Ordnung und Unordnung, Kontrolle und Zufall, Anwesenheit und Abwesenheit. Die im Rahmen der Ausstellung gezeigten Werke umfassen Malerei und Skulptur und zeichnen sich durch Details aus, die Geschichten über die Herkunft und Verwandlung des Materials erzählen. by @l.sterz
Speed up of „do you dig it or do you scrap it“ 21 minutes -> 1 minute, because it’s too big for instagram Created together with @cmg_ngm_pod The work emerged from a collaborative research process with artists, activists and local communities in Johannesburg, and was developed during a residency with the New Futures Collaborative, supported by the Initiative of Change USA and Exploring Visual Cultures. Johannesburg is deeply marked by social and structural inequalities, and ranks among the cities with the highest levels of socio-economic disparity in the world. The official unemployment rate in the city reportedly exceeds 40%, and among youth aged 15 to 24, the rate rises to over 60%, laying the ground for inequality from a young age and preventing many from entering the formal job market. This imbalance is rooted in the city’s colonial and imperial foundations: Johannesburg, the so-called City of Gold, was established 139 years ago on the back of gold mining and the systemic exploitation of Black South Africans and migrant laborers. The consequences of this extractive legacy remain visible today, not only in the enduring poverty and inequality that continue to affect primarily women and Black South Africans, but also in the polluted, toxic landscapes that now form the foundation of the homes of many low-income communities and surround much of the city. “do you dig it or do you scrap it” responds to this history by focusing on an alternative form of material transformation. Instead of extraction and destruction, the work centers on reclamation and renewal. Filmed over twelve hours, the video shows one of Johannesburg’s many scrap-for-cash stores, documenting the fragmentation of a working day in which discarded materials are disassembled, sorted, and repurposed. by @l.sterz
Some impressions of “TRACING PASTS, IMAGINING FUTURES” I was invited by the EVC to curate the German contributions to the exhibition of the Creative Arts and Culture International Research Conference in Ghana. The exhibition brings together works from different university contexts across Germany, thanks to the valuable contributions of Augsburg University, FAU Erlangen–Nuremberg, University of Passau, University of Education Weingarten, Paula Repp Alvarez, Klara Weber, @casparcnrd and @ichmarcfingerboarden. The full article and digital gallery are available on the EVC website:
https://www.explore-vc.org/en/galleries/subgalleries/german-contributions.html by @l.sterz
do you dig it or do you scrap it shown at the Jahresausstellung, AdBK 2025 Ítalo Almeida, Lukas Sterzenbach Video Installation, 21 minutes Who — or what — is looked down upon? And who is looked up to? Seen from above — through the eye of the camera — and from below — through the gaze of the viewer — value is no longer fixed. It is negotiated. Reassembled. Transformed. These stores emerged in response to the global demand for scrap metal and the city’s urban poverty. They originated through informal and often illegal trading, but the industry has since become more regulated — largely overseen by the non-profit Metal Recyclers Association of South Africa. It employs thousands across the city, especially migrants, the homeless, youth, and ex-offenders, enabling survival and a way to enter the economy. They offer an alternative to mining: a form of resource-gathering that neither harms the earth nor exploits its people, but instead connects communities and creates spaces for exchange. The act of collecting recyclable materials forms a sprawling, informal network across the city, one that is deeply rooted in survival, resilience, and reciprocity. Here, unwanted objects are brought back into circulation, revalued, and reimagined. by @l.sterz
Photographs of material origin referencing the material-document artworks they became part of. Byproduct series, Johannesburg, 2025 The series draws from the layered surface structures of mine dumps and the material absence of mining sites in Johannesburg. Shaped over time by rain and wind, the eroded canyons reveal landscapes marked by extraction, contamination, and neglect. The work Series exposes how aesthetic surfaces can obscure histories of environmental exploitation and social inequality. by @l.sterz
Shifting fields of texture and form. The chemical reactions reshape the surface and show how many heavy metals and toxins the soil contains that the mining companies pile up next to homes. by @l.sterz
Making of “do you dig it or do you scrap it” with Ítalo Almeida A visual exploration capturing a 12-hour workday at a Scrap 4 Cash yard, filmed from a rooftop terrace overlooking the site. The project investigates how these recycling spaces are interwoven into the urban and economic fabric of Johannesburg. by @l.sterz

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