Oil tracks are speculative future scenarios in the form of little radio plays. Imagine a future after "plastic cancer" has taken away everything made out of these materials besides some cherished leftovers that could be saved from the plague and are kept in an archive/museum! Or the problems and perspectives extreme wind geo-engineering projects could bring forward. Or a future rural society with diy bio-reactors as its main technological basis. Or the petromelancholic resistance movement in a society of organized scarcity that is sold to its citizens as optimization of happiness… "The future cannot be avoided, only shaped," as the "curatorial consultant from the future" in Hopfengärtner's intro piece stated. The texts and scenarios of Oil Tracks were conceived and composed in cooperation with Alexander Klose. They could be experienced throughout the Petromelancholia exhibition at listening stations in the Kathedraal, the Barbaar and the Barbarella and served as a kind of narrative sci-fi thread.

Bernhard Hopfengärtner (1982, DE) is a speculative designer who uses his work to design spaces and create tangible artefacts in stories, videos and objects. He imagines what is possible and speculates the non-existent. With current technical developments and cultural phenomena, he observes scientific concepts and ideas with Art and Design. Bernhard Hopfengärtner’s work has been exhibited in national and international museums and exhibitions such as the Wellcome Trust in London, the MoMA in New York and the National Museum of China in Beijing.