Jin Lee – Beyond Line
http://utimes.berlin/storage/2024/03/UL-BL-Video-01.mp4 Jin Lee – Beyond Line Sound contribution: Gabriel Kleber 15.03.2024 – 12.04.2024 Opening Thursday, 14.03.2024, 6 – 9 pm Location DISKURS BerlinNovalisstraße 710115 Berlin info@discursus.infowww.discursus.info Facebook Instagram A Fusion of Motion and the Unpredictability of Lines in Kinetic Art “Beyond Line”, Jin Lee’s latest solo exhibition in Berlin, presents a series of new, captivating kinetic art installations that explore the dynamic relationship between movement and unpredictability. This exhibition encourages visitors to delve into the depths of kinetic art and challenges them to rethink its boundaries and definitions that it can transcend. This exhibition celebrates movement, unpredictability, and the blurred lines between motion and stillness, sound and silence. Lee’s unique approach brings to life three-dimensional patterns within the exhibition space, utilizing moving lines and lasers to challenge and redefine conventional perceptions of space. “Beyond Line” features three innovative works by Lee, each illustrating the delicate balance between dynamic energy and tranquil moments. The front space of the exhibition is alive with moving lines, creating an engaging environment that draws visitors into a state of continuous change. At the centre of this kinetic journey is “24 Lines,” a pivotal piece where each line embarks on its trajectory, interlacing harmony with discord and serving as a conduit between the energetic front space and the technological marvels in the rear. The rear space of the exhibition introduces visitors to a fusion of laser-generated visuals and soundscapes by Gabriel Kleber. Here, Lee’s mastery of technology shines through as lasers and algorithms collaborate to produce unforeseen patterns and auditory experiences. This integration of movement, precision, and sound, grounded in the XYZ axis, comprehensively explores the intersections between art and technology. “Beyond Line” is an in-depth exploration of the essence of kinetic art. Lee’s inventive use of lines, machinery, and programming ventures into the territories of the unforeseen and artist and machine self-generated. It invites the artist and viewers to explore the boundless possibilities that arise when technology and sensory perception converge. “Beyond Line” invites all to delve into the unseen and reconsider the vast expanses beyond art’s visible boundaries. – Jung Me Chai Educated at Berlin Art University and Musashino Art University in Tokyo, Jin Lee skillfully integrates Eastern and Western art forms. His installations, recognized by accolades such as the ZER01NE Creative Grant, have captivated audiences from Seoul to Weimar, often themed around order, chaos, and uncertainty. Gabriel Kleber is a Basel-based composer and sound artist. In addition to building installations and electronic instruments, he writes music for contemporary dance, theatre and experimental films. His works have been presented all over Europe, including Germany, Switzerland, Russia, and Belgium. In 2023, he was composer-in-residence at the EMS in Stockholm and received a research grant from the Swiss government for his work on experimental musical instruments.
Works of the Haupt Collection
Dora Tass: Holo$, 2017, holographische Emulsion, laminiert in Glas / analoges Hologramm, 30 × 45 cm, © Dora Tass · Foto: Hermann Büchner Cover Stiftung&Sponsoring 05.23 © ESV https://www.sammlung-haupt.de/ Works of the Haupt Collection Works of the collection presented in the magazine Stiftung & Sponsoring,Issue 05.23: Dora Tass: Holo$ (2017) Extraordinary is the glass object by the artist Dora Tass, who was born in Rome and works there as well as in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Unlike some of the light objects in the collection of the Haupt Collection, which specializes in art on the subject of money – for example, by Mathieu Mercier, Sergej Alexander Dott, and Virginie Mossé – the effect of this holographic light artwork unfolds in active use.At first glance, Holo$ looks (only) like a drawing on a dark background under extremely thick glazing. However, this impression lasts only until light rays from a spotlight fall on the wall-hanging object from above at an angle and bring its surface to actual life. The initially restrained colorfulness now unfolds in intense brilliance and luminosity. Depending on the viewer’s angle of vision, the collage-like elements – including, significantly, a torn $1 bill – emerge more or less far from the surface into the room and open up the third dimension.The secret lies in the glass plate in front of them, which is a generous 1 cm thick.This impression becomes even more perceptible when the viewer finds the work unlit, interactively uses the quasi-staff flashlight belonging to the work – which certainly corresponds to the artist’s intentions – and through the variation of lighting and viewing angle, as it were, puts the objects spatially ‘in motion’. In collaboration with the American artist August Muth, a protagonist of modern holographic light art (who in his own work, however, is emphatically abstract), Dora Tass has created a series of analog Dora Tass has realized a series of analog holographic light works since 2006, including the Typewriter subjects represented in exhibitions – first in the Italian pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale – and at auctions, as well as several other works on the theme of money. by Hermann Büchner, Berlin
Your Tails on Your Heads
Previous Next © Artists & UTimes Your Tails on Your Heads Location DISKURS Berlin Novalisstraße 7, 10115 Berlin Website www.discursus.info Opening Thu., 09.11, 6 – 9 pm Duration 10.11 – 01.12.2023 Artists Jessica Arseneau, Juan Pablo Gaviria Bedoya, Heyon Han, Leniko Sennoma, Bea Targosz, I-Chieh Tsai, Lisa Wintermantel Curator Hara Shin Live performance: I-Chieh Tsai Thu., 09.11, 7 pm Can you imagine yourself with a tail on top of your head, or can you imagine yourself with just a head and a tail? We take for granted things we involuntarily accept as truth, such as notions, history, science, stereotypes, and social order – all of which are defined by the mainstream. This is often different from the truth. “Me,” “my body,” “my thoughts,” and “everything around me” can’t be simply categorized as true or false or defined by a single point of view. Heads and tails are furthest from the centre of the body, yet they can still intersect, traversing understandings of reality and the periphery based on pluralism. The seven artists in the exhibition “Your Tails on Your Heads” strive to move beyond the visible aspects of anthropocentric perspectives that originated from notions of dominant centres to embrace intangible possibilities, ideas, and phenomena. The artists present new perspectives on the familiar physical world through various mediums, including performance, video, installation, and sound. They allow audiences to see into the lives of non-human beings: animals, nature, the universe, socio-political structures, capitalism, and hierarchies. At the same time, it allows them to immerse themselves in the experience of becoming a multidimensional being. Jessica Arseneau‘s exploration of light and darkness, both artificial and natural, manifests itself in video projection installations accompanied by sound, texts, lights, and photographs. Her installations utilize the atmospheric nature of the exhibition space and acquire a temporality of their own. Her light installation “Orange, Blue!“ 2022 oscillates between blue and orange in slow transitions to white. The cool tones of a Martian sunset contrast with the warm tones of an Earth sunset. It is also spectra of light that have opposing effects on the rhythms of biological beings. She intervenes in the natural circadian rhythm. jessarseneau.github.io Juan Pablo Gaviria Bedoya‘s artistic practice explores intra-tropical phenomenology and questions notions of geographical hegemony, simultaneously penetrating multiple intersections of audiovisual language, performance, and writing. His performance piece “Como los soles“, 2023, whose title includes the double entendre of being like the suns and eating the suns, is presented in this exhibition as an installation that includes wall drawings. Through metaphors and paradoxes, he reveals a multi-layered scenario of a thermokinetic understanding of the tropics, a region located at the center of the map but historically perceived as the periphery. juanpablogaviria.xyz Heyon Han‘s research and studio practice are assembled into installations that function as models of our cultural studies belief systems, where contemporary desires and oppression become physical. Han’s work “Proof of Mother”, 2021, a project that proposes a cultural methodology for realizing anti-capitalist desires, is presented as a reconfigured installation in this exhibition. From her observations of the process of overcoming situations and problem-solutions in didactic fables that sometimes follow cruel but rational laws, she approached the term mother as the only concept that overcomes the cruelty of capitalism and decommodifies the bodily object. heyonhan.com Working with installation and film, Leniko Sennoma creates aggressive yet gentle hypnotic environments with audiovisual and metaphorical materials and language. In their installation “Society Of The Snake“, 2019, they envision the snake as a symbol of society’s control that defenceless and threatening materiality gradually wraps around and tightens around individuality and freedom. The insidious practice that purports to be liberating but actually stifles freedom replaces anxiety about an uncertain future with a plausible visible security and closes off further possibilities. In the societies of control, emotions and sensations of freedom and safety run counter to the original concepts. lenikosennoma.wixsite.com/filmart Based on research and fieldwork, Bea Targosz‘s sound installations provoke spatial and sonic experiences and elicit situations. Her project “By the stream, 63° 53′ 54.9″ N 19° 9’ 56.13″ W”, 2023, is a sonic exploration of possible local feedback loops between nature- and human-related processes. It is based on field recordings of a small mountain stream in Landmannalaugar, Iceland, which intensifies in the springtime when the snow cover begins to melt. She thinks of water as a still largely unexplored compound, a vivid matrix whose circulation and melting patterns are altered by human activities. She searches for sonic features that refer to human presence and activity with the use of ML-based and notch filters. beatargosz.com I-Chieh Tsai explores the alienated identities and collective experiences of Asian women in Western society, as well as the role of women in Taiwanese socio-political conditions and related gender issues through field research. She works with video, installation, 3D modelling, collage, and her own body as the medium. In the video installation “小埃<3Iris”, 2021-2022, Tsai reveals a cross-section of an industry where service providers are predominantly women in a society where everything is a commodity through the voices of female workers’ experiences and emotions. The many anonymous women of society exist as vocal avatars providing telephone services in the industry that is maintained by people who believe that moments of new love and intimacy can be purchased. ichiehtsai.tumblr.com Lisa Wintermantel develops audiovisual installations, site-specific performances, and sculptures in the landscape, observing and inventing habitats between our environment and what we know. In “I wanna carry you all on my back”, 2023, her performance shows a forest covered with the reciprocal relationships of living things between humans and other beings. The sounds of the forest mingling with the performer’s breathing, the movement of the camera as if looking at the forest through the eyes of the different beings in the forest, and the aspects of the forest captured by the camera provide the viewer with moments of immersion in an audiovisual experience of the lives there. www.youcaneatthepaper.de Hara Shin, Curator of Your Tails on Your Heads Live performance: I-Chieh Tsai Title: 小埃<3 Iris, Live: Join Me for a
Nina E. Schönefeld
© Nina E. Schönefeld & UTimes Location DISKURS Berlin Novalisstraße 7, 10115 Berlin Duration 29.09 – 27.10.2023 German Version Below. An Antagonistic Journey Through Art Renowned artist Nina E. Schönefeld presents FUCK THE SYSTEM, a daring solo exhibition that challenges the established social, political, economic, and cultural norms and structures. Through this provocative showcase, Schönefeld embodies a spirit of rebellion, defiance, and a profound yearning for radical change. FUCK THE SYSTEM is a video installation that revives relentless and radical activism in response to our increasingly disillusioned era. In the democracies of today, the metaphorical doors may appear open, but as they begin to close, a stark realization dawns upon us—it may be too late. At the heart of this exhibition lies “The Fourth Estate” (2023, HD video), a captivating miniseries comprising four segments, each lasting 15 to 20 minutes. The series follows the journey of investigative journalist Alex Green as she immerses herself in the world of far-right politics. Nina E. Schönefeld’s exhibition serves as a powerful call to action, compelling viewers to contemplate current affairs and the imperative for transformative change. FUCK THE SYSTEM, confronts us with the urgency to break free from the confines of the status quo and advocates for a more inclusive and just society. Nina E. Schönefeld: Nina E. Schönefeld is a distinguished artist holding a Master’s in Fine Art and a scientific PhD from Berlin University (UdK). Her artistic journey has taken her from Berlin to New York and London, earning her prestigious scholarships at Central Saint Martins College and the Royal College of Art. Her diverse artistic portfolio transcends continents, encompassing mediums such as installation, concept art, light, video, and sculpture. Her work explores abrupt societal changes and the lives of individuals with unique perspectives, challenging established narratives and advocating for positive social transformation. Eine antagonistische Reise in die Kunst Die renommierte Künstlerin Nina E. Schönefeld präsentiert FUCK THE SYSTEM, eine gewagte Einzelausstellung, die die etablierten sozialen, politischen, wirtschaftlichen und kulturellen Normen und Strukturen in Frage stellt. Mit dieser provokanten Schau verkörpert Schönefeld den Geist der Rebellion, des Trotzes und der tiefen Sehnsucht nach radikalen Veränderungen. FUCK THE SYSTEM ist eine Videoinstallation, die den unerbittlichen und radikalen Aktivismus als Antwort auf unsere zunehmend desillusionierte Zeit wiederbelebt. In den Demokratien von heute scheinen die metaphorischen Türen offen zu stehen, aber wenn sie sich zu schließen beginnen, dämmert uns eine bittere Erkenntnis – es könnte zu spät sein. Das Herzstück dieser Ausstellung ist “The Fourth Estate” (2023, HD-Video), eine fesselnde Miniserie, die aus vier Teilen besteht, die jeweils 15 bis 20 Minuten dauern. Die Serie verfolgt die Reise der investigativen Journalistin Alex Green, die in die Welt der rechtsextremen Politik eintaucht. Die Ausstellung von Nina E. Schönefeld ist ein eindringlicher Aufruf zum Handeln, der die Zuschauer zum Nachdenken über das aktuelle Zeitgeschehen und die Notwendigkeit eines Wandels anregt. FUCK THE SYSTEM konfrontiert uns mit der Dringlichkeit, aus der Enge des Status quo auszubrechen und setzt sich für eine integrativere und gerechtere Gesellschaft ein. Nina E. Schönefeld: Nina E. Schönefeld ist eine angesehene Künstlerin, die einen Master in Bildender Kunst und einen wissenschaftlichen Doktortitel an der Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK) besitzt. Ihr künstlerischer Weg führte sie von Berlin nach New York und London, wo sie renommierte Stipendien am Central Saint Martins College und dem Royal College of Art erhielt. Ihr vielfältiges künstlerisches Portfolio erstreckt sich über mehrere Kontinente und umfasst Medien wie Installation, Konzeptkunst, Licht, Video und Skulptur. In ihren Arbeiten setzt sie sich mit abrupten gesellschaftlichen Veränderungen und dem Leben des Einzelnen auseinander, wobei sie etablierte Erzählungen infrage stellt und sich für einen positiven sozialen Wandel einsetzt. For media inquiries and interviews, please contact: Jung Me Chai, Curatorinfo@discursus.info DISKURS BerlinNovalisstraße 710115 Berlinwww.discursus.infowww.facebook.com/diskursberlinwww.instagram.com/diskursberlin Share it! Facebook Email
Dawn Woolley
© Artists & UTimes Rebel Selves Exhibition Dawn Woolley Rebel Selves critiques idealised binary gender and beauty norms in selfies and portraiture. A series of banners, wearable sculptures and printed garments create a performative installation space in which visitors can take queer selfies that rebel against these norms. During the exhibition opening Woolley will perform in the installation. The performance references an advert for L’Oreal Infallible Sculpt makeup (https://youtu.be/pxX_zzRFeh0) featuring Barbara Palvin who says ‘I may not be infallible, but I’m always selfie ready’. Palvin is wearing a belt of selfie-sticks with camera phones and a male voice-over tells the viewer that they can be selfie-ready from any angle for up to twenty-four hours. The camera phone belt visually demonstrates the need for continuous readiness under the multiple gazes of the devices. Palvin appears to be trapped by her visibility, a prisoner in a panopticon. The panopticon is a type of prison designed in the late eighteenth century by Jeremy Bentham, a philosopher and social theorist. The prison has a central viewing position from which the prison guard can see all of the prisoners in their cells but the prisoners cannot see the prison guard. The prisoners do not know if they are being watched so they modify their behaviour and internalise the gaze of the warden. Michel Foucault describes the disciplinary gaze of the panopticon as ‘the normalising gaze, a surveillance that makes it possible to qualify, to classify and to punish. It establishes over individuals a visibility through which one differentiates and judges them’ (Foucault, 1977, p. 25). As demonstrated in the L’Oreal advert, the ubiquity of mobile devices with cameras means that people can be photographed at any time, hence the need to be selfie-ready from any angle, 24 hours a day. Social networking sites can be viewed as a giant panopticon in which each user is an overseer and also internalises the gaze of their followers. Research into selfie taking and sharing practices finds that negative feedback in comments and the currency of likes reinforce and police dominant feminine or masculine beauty ideals and binary gender stereotypes. For example, Nicola Döring, and colleagues conducted content analysis of 500 selfies on Instagram to find out if they conform to the gender stereotypes identified by Erving Goffman in his 1976 study of photographs in magazines (Döring et al., 2015). The study revealed that the gender stereotypes found in adverts are repeated in selfies and that some appear in selfies more frequently than in the magazine adverts, suggesting that an intensification of gender stereotypes has taken place. Although selfies allow an individual to produce an image of their choosing, they also increase self-surveillance and foreground the value of appearance. Evidence of this is suggested by articles published in The Wall Street Journal reporting leaked information from Facebook relating to the impact of Instagram on mental wellbeing (Wells et al., 2021 Online). The findings confirm conclusions already reached by researchers: selfies intensify self-scrutiny and peer comparisons which can contribute to low self-esteem and poor body image. Selfies can also reinforce social hierarchies and inequalities because being visible is experienced as empowering or disciplining depending on the individual’s social status and the type of body they possess. Those who are white, able-bodied, middle-class, heterosexual, and thin are likely to be visible for praise but less visible to negative scrutiny. Marginalised people are likely to be visible for criticism and overlooked in terms of their needs, desires, and values (Woolley, 2023). Online aggression is also common, and LGBTQI+ people are 2 to 4 times more likely to be attacked online that heterosexual people (Felmlee, 2020 17). However, communities of care form around selfie-taking and sharing practices, particularly in LGBTQI+ communities. Research has found that selfie-takers are empowered to present themselves in a manner that challenges stereotypes, affirms the complexity of gender-fluidity, and provides visibility for people who are under-represented in mainstream media (Duguay, 2016). Vivienne undertook research with trans and gender-fluid Tumbler users, who report that positive comments from other users are self-affirming and enable body acceptance. The participants benefit from seeing diverse bodies online, and view trans and gender-fluid selfies as empowering expressions of defiance against beauty industries that promote binary beauty ideals and capitalise on consumer’s insecurities (Vivienne, 2017). Research shows that selfies can contribute to a more inclusive visual culture online, produce communities of care, and disrupt existing power hierarchies that determine who is worthy of being seen. However, selfies in which marginalised individuals are identifiable are vulnerable to online hostility from other users. In Woolley’s installation she plays with visual methods of abstraction and ambiguity to create a joyful rebellious space. The Rebel Selfies made in the space do not escape the need for self-presentation and self-exposure, and they carry the risks attached to being visible in the public sphere. However, they also present opportunities to play with identity and enable marginalised individuals to take part in caring communities while minimising risks associated with being visible online. Using glitch, montage, pixalation and blur in selfies, individuals can be visible and confrontational, masked and obscured, while preventing categorisation and comparison in relation to white, ableist, heteronormative neoliberal ideals (Woolley, 2023). Legacy Russell, a curator, writes that queer bodies are glitchy because they ‘are encrypted’ and ‘not meant to be easily read’ (2020 147). The glitch dissolves the body and renders ‘our factual fragments […] scrambled, [and] unreadable’ (Russell, 2020 68). Image degradation, such as blur and pixelation, may also produce images that disrupt the dominant modes of looking. Artist Hito Steyerl writes:Focus is identified as a class position, a position of ease and privilege, while being out of focus lowers one’s value as an image. The contemporary hierarchy of images, however, is not only based on sharpness, but also and primarily on resolution […] a high resolution image looks more brilliant and impressive, more mimetic and magic, more scary and seductive than a poor one. It is more rich, so to speak (Steyerl, 2012 33). Low resolution, blurred images
It may sound utopian
Sandra Hauser – CURTAIN CALL Curated by Peter Ungeheuer Installation view, DISKURS Berlin, 2021 Photo Jung Me Chai It May sound utopian Open Call: Exhibition-Relay Think about the alarming crises in the world. The spreading pandemic, racism and discrimination, growing far-right propaganda, international terrorism, and climate change are to name a few of the perceived threats to our existence. Some people are paralyzed by uncertainty in this unpredictable time, and yes, we are also confronted with severe socio-economic problems. In addition, this unexpected crisis has unfortunately accelerated the rate of restrictions on civil liberties and mass surveillance methods have uninterruptedly risen. Even if it may sound utopian, we are forced to think about new models of “how we live” in these perilous times. The image of “Utopia” maybe a romantic and unrealistic concept but it is an urgent one as we try to revise our current problems. Under the title ‘It may sound utopian’, DISKURS Berlin launches the second round of the Exhibition-Relay in 2021 to attract, select, and provide an opportunity to artists, curators, and creative individuals. In the first Exhibition-Relay 2020, 16 artists and 2 guest curators were chosen and created 11 exhibitions which received attention from the public and the press. With the second round of the Exhibition-Relay in 2021, we encourage creative thinkers to create personal utopias in this unpredictable and vulnerable world. This project is specifically designed to be viewed through the windows of DISKURS Berlin as our doors remain closed. With the exhibitions changing every two weeks, this fast-paced exhibition program aims to support the art scene to fight back against the COVID-19 crisis. By Jung Me Chai