Current Events

Liebe auf den ersten Blick

26. October – 3. December 2024
Group Show, Springhornhof, Neuenkirchen

Die Stiftung Springhornhof wurde gegründet, um das Lebenswerk der 1998 verstorbenen Ruth Falazik weiterzuführen. Als Galeristin hat sie bereits in den 1960er Jahren aus dem historischen Spring­ hornhof einen Ort für zeitgenössische Kunst ge­ macht. Als spätere Kunstvereinsleiterin gelang es ihr, namhafte internationale Künstlerinnen und Künstler in das Heidedorf zu locken, um neue Werke im Dialog mit Natur und Landschaft zu entwickeln.

Die obere Etage gehört den Künstlerinnen und Künstlern des Ensembles von mittlerweile mehr als vierzig frei zugänglichen Skulpturen und Installa­ tionen, das vom Springhornhof stetig weiter ent­ wickelt wird. Großzügig haben sie Fotografien, Skulpturen und Objekte für den Verkauf zugunsten der Arbeit der Stiftung zur Verfügung gestellt. Die Schau führt eindrucksvoll vor Augen, welche Band­ breite künstlerischer Positionen die Neuenkirchener „Kunst­Landschaft“ mittlerweile umfasst:

Elmgreen & Dragset, Rupprecht Matthies, HAWOLI, Gabriela Albergaría, Hartmut Stielow, Mutter/Genth, Martin Reichmann, Kaori Tomita, Verena Issel, Aram Bartholl, Ulrich Eller, Harald Finke, Stefan Kern, Micha Ullman, Rolf Jörres, Timm Ulrichs, Christiane Möbus, Volker Lang, Carl Vetter, Anna Guðjónsdóttir, Will Beckers, Gisela von Bruchhausen und viele mehr.

Singularity

4. October – 15. December 2024
Group Show, C-Lab - Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab, Taipei

2024 Future Media FEST-Singularity Embracing the Dawn of the Singularity

In the heart of the 21st century’s digital revolution, technological advancements are reshaping human existence—our lifestyles, thought processes, and societal structures. Underpinning this transformation is the captivating concept of the Singularity, a theory both alluring and profound.

The Technological Singularity, as envisioned by mathematician and computer scientist Vernor Vinge in 1993, designates a pivotal moment when machine intelligence eclipses human intellect. This event is predicted to trigger an exponential surge in technological progress, irrevocably altering the trajectory of civilization. The academic community further understands the Singularity as an inflection point where artificial intelligence reaches a certain threshold, catalyzing a cascade of technological disruptions and an “intelligence explosion.”

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.

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Upcoming Events

Moving Image Perspectives

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

Coinciding with its 9th anniversary, ANNKA KULTYS GALLERY is delighted to announce the launch of its new digital programme Illuminated: Moving Image Perspectives, which will take place over the course of a year, and elaborates on the gallery’s expertise in moving image and reaffirms its ongoing commitment to this field.

On a weekly basis, Illuminated will offer unique insights into a new media artist using film, video animation, as well as their latest technological explorations, including blockchain and advanced technologies such as AI. This project aims to showcase and contextualise diverse digital art practices, while introducing international artists and their distinctive approaches to the gallery’s audience.

The online streams will be augmented by physical presentations of digital artworks in a private home setting at the gallery founder’s loft in Shoreditch. These installations will be accompanied by regular, invitation-only dinners and carefully curated exclusive viewings for art professionals, fostering deeper connections between artists, collectors, journalists, and museum curators.

Graphic Matters

29. November 2024
Talk, TURF festival, Breda

On Friday 29 November 2024, we are organising an inspiring afternoon for creative makers and tech enthusiasts together with TURF. During Current Characters IV: Wired Wonders , attendees and speakers will discuss the possibilities and ethical challenges of technology in art and design.

The new event TURF highlights electronic music, art, culture and tech. On Friday 29 November during Characters IV: Wired Wonders , three idiosyncratic makers Aram Bartholl (DE), SMACK(NL) and Roos Groothuizen (NL) present their work and share their views on the role of technology in art and autonomous design. They are known for their critical and social engagement. Wired Wonders promises to be a fascinating mix of inspiration and reflection, challenging attendees to think about the impact of technological innovations on the creative process.

Breda-based collective SMACK highlights the ethical dimensions of digital culture, critically visualising the seductions of technology and algorithms; Aram Bartholl explores the boundary between the digital and physical worlds, with critical installations that make technology tangible in the public domain; and Roos Groothuizen is known for her work on digital freedom and privacy, using technology as an activist tool to create awareness about surveillance and control.

Recent Events

Total Screen Time

21. November 2024
Curatorial, Ithakis 28, Kypseli-Athens, Athens


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 to immerse into the artworks. LET’S BRAINROT TOGETHER! 🧠 In a collective and liberating moment, we also ask the artists  to share their weekly screen time prior to the opening. WE ARE ALL GETTING EXPOSED LOL 🎀

participating artists:
Andreas Angelidakis, Margarita Athanasiou, Cory Arcangel, James Bridle, Constant Dullaart, Chioma Ebinama, Evoulix, Fruitgillette, Agape Harmani, Hristos Hantzis, Kathrin Hunze, 1g.00_0 (Dirk Paesmans), Karl Heinz Jeron, Anna Kalozoumi, Kakia Konstantinaki, Markella Ksilogiannopoulou, Leefwerk, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Lucile Littot, Miltos Manetas, Maria Mavropoulou, Anastasis-Panagis Meletis, Tokisato Mitsuru, Eva Papamargariti, Angelo Plessas, Captain Stavros, Kosts Stafylakis, Mandy Stergiou, Alexandros Touramanis, Connor Willumsen

curated by:
Aram Bartholl, Socrates Stamatatos & Theo Triantafyllidis

curatorial statement:
Our algorithmic life has been reduced to isolation and hostility the last few years. Alone in our echo chamber we are brain rotting endlessly, while each specific algorithm is surveilling our every move and gatekeeping the process of our actions. To quote the famous philosopher and poet, Britney Spears:

“What am I to do with my life?
How am I supposed to know what’s right?
I can’t help the way I feel
But my life has been so overprotected
I tell ’em what I like, what I want, and what I don’t
But every time I do, I stand corrected
Things that I’ve been told, I can’t believe
What I hear about the world, I realize I’m overprotected.”

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!

Kill Your Phone (with style!)

16. November 2024
Workshop, Super Duper Store, Athens

KILLYOURPHONE.COM is an open workshop format. Participants are invited to make their own signal blocking phone pouch.📶 In the pouch the phone can’t send or receive any signals. It is dead! 📵This time we are adding a cute twist 🥰 your phone is going down with style 💖

Join @arambartholl & @socratesstamatatos on 16.11.2024 from 12:00-17:00 at our beloved @super_duper_wow 🎀

Fix your phone shop

19. – 27. October 2024
Workshop, Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven

Your smartphone is broken – and it’s not just a cracked screen. The problem is in the apps, the operating system, the hardware, and it affects your privacy, your health, and the health of our planet. During Dutch Design Week, visit the Fix Your Phone Shop by Waag Futurelab and learn what to do to fix it!

Killyourphone.com workshop at Fix Your Phone Shop

Low Resolution

19. October 2024
Group Show, Transfergallery / Postmasters, NYC

ʟᴏ ᴀɴᴅ ʙᴇʜᴏʟᴅ, ɪᴛ’ꜱ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ʟᴏᴡ ʀᴇꜱᴏʟᴜᴛɪᴏɴ. Postmasters 5.0 and TRANSFER present a show within a show to celebrate the finissage of ‘High Resolution’ on October 19th, 6-9PM 🗓️

​🎥 LOW RESOLUTION GIF SCREENING 🎥

Shiny renders, ‘poor images’, generative art, and everything in between – ‘Low Resolution’ features looped moving images from the internet and beyond, screening for one night only in SoHo.

​Featured Artists: @pr_x_s @anamariacaballero @arambartholl @auriea.harvey.studio @danieltemkin_ @fabiolalariosm @asugarhigh @joemckay5 @mrkdrf @machewtops @mayaontheinternet @yoururgetobreatheisalie @moisesdsanabria @made.by.oona @rodellwarner @rothbergrothberg @sashastiles @fakeshamus @nihil_diamond @taramoves @travisleroysouthworth @pipizzy02 + more announced soon.

​Join us for an evening of Animated GIFs from invited artists in the expanded community around ‘High Resolution’ to celebrate the close of the exhibition.

🎥 Sneak peek 👀 a special contribution from Auriea Harvey ‘Madame Archive’ 1996-1999 a sequential archive of the GIF the artist used online on Entropy8.com in the 90s

RSVP link in bio 🔗
https://lu.ma/q9mrjdnm

Blog Archive for Tag: surveillance

'DeafenYourPhone' – How to make sure your phone is not listening on you

August 23, 2016

The ‘DeafenYourPhone’ tube is a mobile, low-cost, DIY sound dampening solition to prevent supposedly hacked phones from eavesdropping on its owner.

deaf-chamber-for-smart-phones-01
The Matryoshka tube in a tube concept works well to isolate a phone sound proof from its environment.
deaf-chamber-for-smart-phones-10-sm
To avoid impact sound transmission the tubes are isolated with foam. Add another tube if you want to increase the sound proofing quality.
deaf-chamber-for-smart-phones-09
Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 30 cm ; weight: 1 kg ; material cost: 24,- €
The problem
Once targeted a standard mobile phone can be hacked by an attacker and easily be modified to record sound at any time. This might sound like a farfetched spy story to you but in the year 3 after Snowden politicians, lawyers, NGOs or journalists have to deal very much with these kind of questions. Recently Edward Snowden & Bennie Huan presented the project “Introspection Engine”, a hardware modification for iPhones that monitors and signals radio traffic on a hardware level to make sure the phone is ‘really off’. Different voices in the hacker community pointed out that this device cannot prevent phones from listen to a conversation and to relay the data ‘later’ to the ‘attacker’. It is generally advised for i.e. journalists who are meeting a ‘source’ to leave their phones ‘at home’ or in a sound dampening closet like a fridge nearby. However, depending on the local situation this is not necessarily a practical solution. You might need the phone to plan the meeting and maybe the place where you meet has no fridge or similar appliances accessible.
How does it work?
Like a russian Matryoshka doll the phone is locked into a foam isolated plastic tube with screw cover, which again is placed in an isolated plastic tube. After a series of tests with different containers it showed that a round tube of hard plastic provides good properties to block sound. It is very important to disrupt direct contact of the phone case and plastic tubes to avoid impact sound transmission. The double layer tube in a tube approach can be improved with a 3rd or more layers of plastic tubes. Surprisingly it is quite difficult to prevent a phone microphone from ‘hearing’ something. Try it yourself! I did tests with pouches, boxes, kitchen containers, glass containers, pelican cases and so on. Often there the recorded sound is already very low but always good enough to listen to a conversation once you pull up the volume in post-production audio software. Heavy high density material would work best to block sound waves but to walk around with a concrete block seems not very practical. However if you find out other better solutions please share your ideas!
Tutorial:

  1. Get different size plastic drain tubes and covers with rubber seals from your local DIY store. Screw covers are advised but sometimes harder to get. In german the grey tubes are called ‘HT-Rohr
  2. Buy some foam. I used just 10 mm standard foam but there is also special foam for sound canceling available i.e. in the auto mobile market available. Total cost of tubes and foam ca 24,- €
  3. Place the phone in the isolated tube and close the cover tight. Make sure the phone cover is not touching the tube directly. Place the small tube in the big tube and also close this one tight.
    ( The small tube I got only has diameter of only 7,5 cm. Small size smart phones still fit in here. Any new iPhone or Samsung will need a bigger tube. )

Disclaimer!
Make sure to test your setup! Put your phone to record audio and lock it in the tubes. Try different sound sources in a variety of distances to the DeafenYourPhone tube and check the results in audio software on your computer. In a normal medium sound environment, with a distance of 1-2 meters and normal voice speaking level I wasn’t able to extract any usable audio from the recordings. Only rely on this proposal for a sound proofing capsule if you have tested and proofed its function properly. Tips and recommendations from audio/eavesdropping experts are welcome! 😉
History
I presented this sound proof tube concept along with the killyourphone.com pouches workshop end of 2013 at the #30C3 conference, the annual congress of the CCC (Chaos Computer Club) but haven’t documented it properly since then. This blog post is dedicated to Linus Neumann and Tim Pritlove from Logbuch Netzpolitik.org. ;))
Audio test!!
This is an audio test with the above shown setup. “Logbuch Netzpolitik” #190 is running at a decent volume (normal voice level). The tubes are closed and then placed ca. 1m away from the speaker. If you are able to extract the conversation of Tim and Linus while the phone (iPhone 5) is in the tube please let me know!

'Nice to see you'

May 31, 2009


It’s kind of natural nowadays that a meeting point is monitored by a surveillance cam. But in this particular case (at airport Tegel, Berlin, DE) it is interesting that the logo of the meeting point looks exactly like the cam itself.

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