Current Events

Are we there yet?

14. February – 16. May 2025
Group Show, Nome gallery, Berlin

NOME is pleased to announce are we there yet?, a group exhibition that critically examines issues of police brutality, mass incarceration, discrimination, immigration, and state surveillance. The show draws its title from a work by Kameelah Janan Rasheed, whose aphoristic text-based practice often grapples with complex societal questions. As with many of her works, are we there yet? carries multiple meanings, symbolizing both a push for equality and the darker undercurrents of state violence. The exhibition invokes Rasheed’s question to probe the spread of authoritarianism in contemporary society.

Artists: Camae Ayewa, Sadie Barnette, Aram Bartholl, Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, James Bridle, Paolo Cirio, Cian Dayrit, Priscilla Dobler Dzul, Navine G. Dossos, Igor Grubić, Kite, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Voluspa Jarpa, Ahmet Öğüt, Dread Scott, Myriam Zarhloul

Moving Image Perspectives

22. December 2024 – 30. June 2025
Solo Show, Annka Kultys Gallery, London

ANNKA KULTYS GALLERY is pleased to present Greetings From Germany! (2024), a single-channel video by German artist Aram Bartholl, a poignant critique of police activities on the streets of Berlin, underscoring the potential of art to confront and illuminate complex truths. This presentation is part of Illuminated: Moving Image Perspectives, the gallery digital programme, which will take place over the course of a year, and offer unique insights into new media artists using film, video animation, as well as their latest technological explorations, including blockchain and advanced technologies such as AI.

Aram Bartholl’s, video Greetings from Germany! (2024), uses the technology of AI as a space of opportunities to explore disturbing policies around modern urban policing. The ironic title belies a serious underlying message about police activity on the streets of Berlin — a reminder that art can be a powerful tool to consider truth more fully.

For this work Bartholl chose a single image from a recording of an anti-war demonstration in Berlin where police were involved. Using this single frame, Greetings from Germany! presents six alternative realities generated by different AI video systems. The unfolding events are unsettling, playing with notions of certainty. It is difficult to know precisely what is happening as figures morph into one another. Lines are blurred between police, demonstrators and bystanders and precisely what is happening – one figure appears to dance. As the video is shot from the point of view of the audience, (reminiscent of smartphone streaming), the work gives the impression of the viewer being a witness to events unfolding. This creates a sense of immediacy, yet questions of veracity soon arise. The use of a variety of video generators shows how each of these commercial AI models give a slightly different angle to the ambiguous narrative. Shockingly, however, in the final shot, the ambiguity disappears as the viewer is confronted by a distressing clip of found footage of the incident.

This work is about holding a mirror to society, making visible aspects of public policy that might be easily overlooked or disregarded. By using one of the major tools of contemporary society – AI, Bartholl here encourages the viewer to look again, reconsider definitions of what constitutes the real, and catalyse conversations around critical issues.

Grand Snail Tour

26. September 2024 – 29. August 2025
Group Show, Urbane Künste Ruhr, Xanten Ruhrgebiet

What is the Ruhr area? An exciting metropolitan region centred around the major cities of Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg? Or a collection of scattered towns and villages from Alpen to Xanten? Or both? Does it consist of tranquil river landscapes along the Ruhr, Emscher and Lippe or is it hopelessly damaged by the scars of heavy industry? Ruhrpott, example of transformation, poverty zone – how can art open up, change and enrich this diverse region?

Urbane Künste Ruhr wants to find out and is launching the Grand Snail Tour in autumn, an artistic-performative journey through all 53 cities in the Ruhr region. Because this is an ambitious endeavour and Urbane Künste Ruhr has set itself the goal of getting to know local players, forming bonds and establishing sustainable networks, this is a three-year project.

Kick-off Grand Snail Tour in Xanten
Urbane Künste Ruhr is launching the Grand Snail Tour in autumn, an artistic-performative journey through all 53 cities in the Ruhr area. The kick-off event will take place on 26.9. in Xanten.

Instruments of Surveillance

21. September 2024 – 2. May 2025
Group Show, National Communications Museum, Hawthorn, Melbourne

As the race to create an artificial general intelligence (AGI) accelerates, questions of surveillance are more important than ever. Is it human or machine? And how can people equip themselves with the tools and knowledge they need to navigate technological futures?

Instruments of Surveillance grounds an age-old and contentious topic in the human and the everyday. From government spooks, data-extraction and activism through to generative AI, this exhibition unravels the interface between human and machine, inviting audiences to unpack the technologies that people use to surveil and their role in it.

Interact with a robotic commission by Louis-Philippe Demers. See an original WWII Enigma Machine, along with wiretaps and prototypes from the Australian Federal Police. Engage with commissions by Leah Heiss and Emma Luke, Kate Crawford, Aram Bartholl and Weniki Hensch among others.

This exhibition is curated by Jemimah Widdicombe (NCM) in collaboration with Dr. Tyne Sumner, current ARC DECRA fellow at the Australian National University.

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Upcoming Events

Jahrestagung Intervenierende Künste

9. – 10. May 2025
Talk, Hau 2, Berlin

Die Jahrestagung 2025 des SFB Intervenierende Künste findet statt am:

Freitag, 9. Mai 2025, 18 bis 22 Uhr und
Samstag, 10. Mai 2025, 10 bis 20 Uhr

Sie wird organisiert von der Arbeitsgruppe „Digitaler Aktivismus“ in Kooperation mit dem HAU Hebbel am Ufer.

Programm und weitere Informationen folgen.
Zeit & Ort
09.05.2025 – 10.05.2025

HAU 2, Hallesches Ufer 34, 10963 Berlin

Recent Events

International Day Against Police Brutality

15. March 2025
Workshop, Refuge Worldwide, Berlin

This Saturday (11AM-5PM) we welcome Ides Of March, a grass-roots initiative organised by local citizens seeking to raise awareness around the topic of police brutality, in collaboration with KOP Berlin, a campaign for victims of racist police violence.

On March 15th, 1997, the first observation of the international day against police brutality took place in Montreal, Canada, initiated by the Collective Opposed of Police Brutality as a response to extremely violent and racist behaviours perpetrated by authorities. We take this opportunity to explore the topic of police brutality on a local and global level, as well as interlinked practices of racial profiling. With the backdrop of weekly, if not daily, reports of police violence against protestors in Berlin, the topic is more relevant than ever. The event comprises an installation curated by Ides Of March with guest contributors including Aram Bartholl, which is open throughout the event, plus a panel talk from 2:30-3:30PM and free toolkits. The panel talk is titled Beyond The Shields: The Contemporary Function Of Police Brutality In Our Society and will take place in English. The speakers are Ignacio Rosaslanda (Unpublished), Gonca Sağlam (KOP Berlin), reporter Julian Daum and moderator Rahim Chattaika.

Kunstsurfer

1. – 31. March 2025
Solo Show, Your Browser, Internet

KUNSTSURFER is a browser-based art space. It runs on an add-on that recognises advertisements and replaces them with digital exhibitions. KUNSTSURFER brings art into your daily browsing. It plays with the ways online advertisements look and work. It takes over commercial space to host experimental, digital site-specific curatorial and artistic projects.‍

Facts, Fakes and Fears

22. February – 29. March 2025
Group Show, Galerie Eigenheim, Weimar

FACTS, FAKES AND FEARS
Desinformationen im Zeitalter von künstlicher Intelligenz und Sozialen Medien
Die Auftaktausstellung zum Jahresprogramm von EIGENHEIM Weimar 2025

Ort: EIGENHEIM Weimar, Gärtnerhaus im Weimarhallenpark, Asbachstraße 1, 99423 Weimar
Eröffnung: 21.02.2025 um 19 Uhr
Dauer: 22.02. – 29.03.2025

teilnehmende Künstler*innen: Gökçen Dilek Acay, Benedikt Braun, Cosima Göpfert, Frankfurter Hauptschule, Alison Jackson, Tea Mäkipää, Tommy Neuwirth, Sarah Oh-Mock, Julian Palacz, Michal Schmidt, Julia Scorna, Marcus Sternbauer, Anke Stiller, Addie Wagenknecht, Moritz Wehrmann, Lars Wild, The Yes Man, 庄睿哲 Ruizhe Zhuang

Total Screen Time: BRAINROT

1. February 2025
Group Show, panke.gallery, Berlin

After the success of the Athenian version of Total Screen Time, and after ‘Brainrot’ was voted last year’s word of the year, we are back in Berlin! No,no we are so,so back! Meanwhile, everyone seems to be obsessed with their screen time. Some are trying to downsize it, some are accepting their ‘terminally online’ identity, some perceive it as a competition, and some—as always, simply don’t care.

Enough with the heavy! We invited thirty artists to present digital works through their own personal devices, extending an intimate invitation for audiences to peer through the artist’s screen—a portal into their unique, brainrot-filled worlds. From personal and collective imagery to camp, critical takes on surveillance, viral memes, and wholesome escapism—artworks from every corner of the digital psyche are on display. This one night exhibition is about connecting, sharing in the joy of deep-frying our brains, rather than in isolation. And we think THAT’S HOT!

Curated by:
Aram Bartholl & Socrates Stamatatos

Participating artists:
!Mediengruppe Bitnik with Selena Savić & Gordan Savičić, Afroditi Panagiotakou & Manolis Manousakis, Aleksandra Domanović, Clusterduck, Constant Dullaart, Cory Arcangel, Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, Darsha Hewitt, Dirk Paesmans, Esben Holk, Evan Roth, Igor Štromajer, Ingrid Hideki, Ipek Burçak, Jan Berger, Joan Heemskerk, Joana Moll, Joanna Bacas, Jonas Lund, Katerina Baxevani, Kathrin Hunze, Marsunev, Miltos Kontogiannis, Nadja Buttendorf, Nestor Siré, Niko Princen, Nora Al-Badri, Olaf Val, Ria Schöneberger, Theo Trianfyllidis

Total Screen Time is a one night group exhibition on phones! All participating artists will bring a phone with their artwork on it, which will be mounted on the walls of the exhibition space. The idea behind the show is that the audience gets to peep through the hole of the artist’s phones immersing into their artworks. LET’S BRAINROT TOGETHER! 🧠 In a collective and liberating moment we asked all artists and visitors to share their daily phone screen time during the opening. WE ARE ALL GETTING EXPOSED LOL 🎀

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Blog Archive for Tag: killyourphone

Interview about Killyourphone at 37C3

January 3, 2024

Interview about Killyourphone at 37C3 ‘Breitband’ DLF 2023

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CryptoNails & KillYourPhone

May 17, 2016

killyourphone-cryptonails-3
The workshop night at Machine Project in L.A. with Crypto Nails by Nadja Buttendorf and KILLYOURPHONE.COM  was very much fun! Thx to Machine Project for hosting this event!! & thx to the people for stat-us.org for inviting us!! Also thanks  to Simon Steiner from Otis for this super cool handmade screen print poster!!
http://machineproject.com/2016/events/kill-your-phone-crypto-nails/
Saturday, April 30, 8:00pm–10:00pm
1200 N Alvarado St, Los Angeles, CA 90026, USA
killyourphone-cryptonails-1
ALL PICTURES on flickr!!

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Kill your phone machine…

April 19, 2016

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KILLYOURPHONE at Machine project LA
http://machineproject.com/2016/events/kill-your-phone-crypto-nails/Saturday, April 30, 8:00pm–10:00pm
1200 N Alvarado St, Los Angeles, CA 90026, USA
“Join us in the Machine Project storefront on Saturday, April 30th at 8pm for an evening of counter-surveillance fun organized by the Cryptoparty team, featuring special guests Aram Bartholl and Nadja Buttendorf.
Your phone is the window to your soul. Keeper of credit cards, holder of location data, archive of incriminating voice memos. Kill Your Phone! In this open source workshop, Aram Bartholl and the LA Cryptoparty crew will teach you to make a special signal-blocking phone pouch, to keep your ever-vulnerable Glowing Brick of Light safe from the vast array of threats facing the modern citizen, including but not limited to: CIA operatives, Russian teenagers, NSA contractors, and Glop-dwelling cyber-urchins. Feel free to bring clothes of your own to modify for wearable wave-blocking.
But that’s not all! After your phone is shielded safe and sound, it’s time to weaponize your fingers with Nadja’s Magnetic Nail Art Studio. Equip your nails with custom EXPLANTS, as we magnetize our fingertips for crypto-defense. Blank credit cards with the swipe of a finger, conveniently hold metal objects, feel the magnetic waves, change your report cards!
This event is open to all. $5 suggested donation to cover material costs. Bring a sewing machine if you have one!”

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Killyourphone at Sankt Gallen Kunsthalle

December 5, 2014

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«The Darknet – From Memes to Onionland. An Exploration»
Kunsthalle Sankt Gallen
18. Oktober 2014 – 11. Januar 2015

Mit Arbeiten von: !Mediengruppe Bitnik, Anonymous, Cory Arcangel, Aram Bartholl, Heath Bunting, Simon Denny, Eva und Franco Mattes, Seth Price, Robert Sakrowski, Hito Steyerl, Valentina Tanni

, 14 Uhr

Workshop II «KillYourPhone» mit Aram Bartholl 
KILLYOURPHONE.COM ist ein offenes Workshopformat. Unter Anleitung des deutschen Konzept- und Medienkünstlers Aram Bartholl und mit Hilfe des Teams der Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen werden die Teilnehmenden eingeladen, Handytaschen zu nähen, die Funksignale blockieren. Das Telefon kann in dieser Tasche weder senden noch empfangen und ist komplett vom Netz abgeschnitten. Während des Workshops spricht der Künstler auch über seine Arbeit und die allgegenwärtige Überwachung.
Nach dem Workshop findet um 16.30 Uhr ein Artist Talk mit Carmen Weisskopf und Domagoj Smoljo von der !Mediengruppe Bitnik, Aram Bartholl, Carolin Wiedemann (Soziologin, Universität Hamburg) und Giovanni Carmine statt.
Die beiden Veranstaltungen, Workshop und Artist Talk, laufen unter dem Titel «Here, but Invisible»
 

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Web We Want

November 28, 2014

Killyourphone and What is a pixel? workshops

at Web We Want festival at the Southbank Centre London,
Nov 29/30 2014
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Töte dein Telefon!!

September 21, 2014

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The KILLYOURPHONE workshop at Edith Russ Haus, Lange Nacht der Museen was super crowded and fun yesterday night!! We ran out of material at 9:00 pm. It shows most people really into it. It took the opportunity to finally translate the Killyouphone site into GERMAN!! :)))

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Killyourphone Tutorial Video

June 12, 2014


Beautiful  Killyourphone tutorial on http://www.technikjournal.de :)) thx!!

Nähanleitung für ein tragbares Funkloch

Wie schützt man sich mit Nadel und Faden vor der NSA? Der Berliner Künstler Aram Bartholl hat eine Lösung: Sein Projekt “Kill Your Phone” ist eine Handytasche aus Spezialvlies, die das Telefon abhör- und ortungssicher macht. // Von Falko Klöpper
 

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KILLYOURPHONE at re:publica

April 28, 2014


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Make your own mobile phone blocking pouch!!
This workshop took place, May 6, 2014, at re:publica conference, Berlin
more info at KILLYOURPHONE.COM

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Kill Your Phone! workshop at #30C3

January 2, 2014

I had a lot of fun running this workshop at the congress last week. Visitors were invited to make their own blocking pouch. We had tons of interesting discussions at the table and it showed a lot of people know much about radio waves and frequencies but often have a hard time working the sewing machine :))
Thx for joining! to be continued…

 
“Open workshop to passively block your phone from sending and receiving. Make your own signal blocking Faraday pouch! How to wrap your phone to kill any wireless connection? How to pack your phone so it can’t record any sound? Which materials work best? Where to get them? What are the cheapest and fastest solutions? We have cloths, tools and a sewing machine. Feel free to join! Bring your own stuff!
http://killyourphone.com/
https://events.ccc.de/congress/2013/wiki/Projects:Kill_Your_Phone!

at 30C3: 30th Chaos Communication Congress
December 27th to 30th, 2013 Hamburg
 
 
 

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