Technological Tampering
5th May – 22nd June 2012
Opening Times: Friday to Sunday 3 – 8 pm and by appointment
As humans we cannot resist the lure of technology in expanding our abilities and knowledge. The execution of technology influences the principles of society by altering realities and expectations. Technology develops autonomously, one could suggest that “it seems to feed on itself”, moving forward with a force irresistible to humans, expanding and growing at a rapid rate.
In a modern society that is ruled by technological devices that we are dependent on or hooked up to - one could even say take orders from- what if we couldn’t rely on them anymore? Security has been breached; someone or something has internally modified it making it less efficient or temperamental.
Max Sudhues’s is exploring the digital world with the help of an analogue object. His light sculpture reveals an almost anatomic texture. The outcome of his research is a projection, which is almost disappearing in its own shadows.
Joulia Strauss, in collaboration with Moritz Mattern, is exhibiting her piece “Anamorphous Monument to Bradley Manning. She states, Resistance in the 21st century emerges from our adamant commitment to humankind's connectedness. In a humanistic state of emergency, Private Bradley E. Manning (*1987), a US Army intelligence analyst, single-handedly assumed responsibility for providing Wikileaks with classified data about war crimes the US government commited in Iraq. He was arrested for treason. Heroic conduct under today's technological conditions calls for the invention of a new form of monument, which was inaugurated at the 4th Moscow Biennale: an anamorphous video sculpture giving Manning back his face and voice.
Tiago Rodrigues explores the boundaries of reality and post-reality on the world-wide-web by deconstructing the bits and bytes that constitute the picture of a pop icon such as Lady Diana. His piece can also be understood as a reflection on what can be considered art in a world full of digital images.
How can Nietzsche’s fear of “The Eternal Return” be made comprehensible, even if it may be the victim of a wrong interpretation? Elke Reinhuber's answer to this problem is a vinyl record of an endlessly reiterating sound, which emphasizes the idea of infinite repetition. However, in this case the sound will slowly and slightly change due to physical disintegration from dust or abrasion of the material and the spectator/listener can interfere, speed up, slow down or even stop “The Eternal Return”.
Franziskus Nakajima claims, his new installation is the ultimate piece of technology in that it has been designed purely for functionality but has been stripped of its Functionality. It thus renders the functional design into a sculptural piece, waiting to be seen in a new light.
Arthur Patching explores and questions the body objectified through medicine and the trust we place in medical practice. To ensure hospitals are run more efficiently, the human factor will play less of a role in the consultation clinic of the future, whereby technology steps up alongside us. Arthur has created an immobile and less efficient discarded robot doctor. It asks questions to determine the diagnosis of the patient, leaving no time for answers. We only have to look behind us and remember that we are but a man or machine.
What happens when Apple’s Computer Voice Alex is being engaged in an existential discussion with himself? Jae Ho Youn’s brings this abstract thought experiment into being. The two speakers are facing each other and are uttering either ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
