WoW at Laguna Art Museum

The WoW workshop/ performance at Laguna Art Museum was great fun! Thx to all participants and to the team!
Check all pics on flickr.
“WoW: Emergent Media Phenomenon” Laguna Art Museum, US
June 14 – October 4, 2009.
Artists Darsha Hewitt and Aram Bartholl transform the MÄCK Second second-hand store into an experimental laboratory for media archaeology and collective making through a series of workshops.The project takes the objects themselves as its starting point: discarded televisions, stereo systems, computers, furniture, and everyday items that tell stories of their previous lives while also carrying the potential for new futures.
Found objects from the MÄCK Second inventory are examined, modified, and recombined. Together, the participants develop a large-scale installation that reconfigures the store’s interior and transforms its inventory into an immersive landscape of sound, images, stories, and technological relics, accessible to the public during opening hours.
Situated between recycling, artistic research, and a speculative future workshop, the project creates a temporary space that invites visitors to explore the hidden potential of old things and to rediscover second-hand culture as a resource for new forms of living, making, and imagining together.
AFTER MEMORY reflects on how memory is affected by endless social media feeds, clouded storage spaces, automated data storage, and networked communication technologies. This bears both challenges and chances, as practices of remembering and forgetting are reconfigured and their competences are transferred from institutional actors to civic initiatives and individuals. In turn, the role of museums and archives is redefined, too, whose collections no longer preside over a sovereign narration of the past, but constitute shared repositories for the future.
With: Noor Abuarafeh, Heba Y. Amin, Maria Thereza Alves, Aram Bartholl, Taysir Batniji, Giselle Beiguelman, Zach Blas, Karolina Grzywnowicz, Ana Hupe, Eduardo Kac, Aline Motta, Rabih Mroué, Vanessa Amoah Opoku & Joy Weinberger und Federico Protto.
AFTER MEMORY is a project by: Nathalia Lavigne, Lisa Deml, Víctor Fancelli Capdevila
By occupying nearly a third of our waking hours, screens are profoundly reshaping the contours of our relationships with others. In response, numerous journalistic and academic discourses echo concerns about the digital migration of our social lives: the idea frequently arises that the socio-technical systems at work in this migration are making us more resistant to diversity.
Our intention is to nuance this concern by acknowledging a foundational aspect of the internet—its original design to facilitate the virtuous and unprecedented emergence of communities of specific interests, often far more specialized than what our traditional offline social circles can accommodate. This utopia inevitably carries a tension between, on the one hand, the benefits of more efficient and far-reaching sociability, and on the other, the widely discussed risks of a social life limited to alters who are most similar to ourselves.
Curated by Aurélie Clémente-Ruiz, director of the Musée de l’Homme in Paris, and Camille Roth, a researcher at CNRS in social sciences.
With: Nicolas Bailleul, Aram Bartholl, Léa Belloousovitch, Neïl Beloufa, Sophie Calle, Paola Ciarska, Laurent Grasso, Juliette Green, Ben Grosser, Özgür Kar, Béatrice Lartigue, Lauren Lee MacCarthy, Katherine Longly, Randa Maroufi, Magalie Mobetie, Martine Neddam, Philippe Parreno, Françoise Pétrovitch, Valentina Peri, Marilou Poncin, Jeanne Suspuglas
curated by Joana Moll
Still Unstable – 45 Years of V2_
For 45 years, V2_ has been a space where artists, researchers and technologists come together to question, explore and experiment with emerging technologies. To mark this anniversary, V2_ presents Still Unstable: a programme of exhibitions, talks, interviews and live performances exploring the hidden systems that shape technological innovation today.
Rather than looking back, Still Unstable looks ahead. In a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, algorithms and digital infrastructures, the programme asks what remains unseen: the labour, resources, ecologies and power structures behind contemporary technologies, and how artistic practice can make these visible.
Exhibition
24 September – 18 October 2026
The exhibition brings together works by Rosa Menkman, Aram Bartholl, Anna Ehrenstein, knowbotiq, Kaisa Molga, Morehshin Allahyari and more to be announced. Through installations, moving image and artistic research, the participating artists examine the infrastructures, relationships and systems that underpin today’s technological landscape.
Unstable Talks & Interviews
24–26 September 2026
Alongside the exhibition, Still Unstable presents three days of talks, artist talks and interviews reflecting on 45 years of media art and the challenges of contemporary technological culture.
Confirmed speakers are Andreas Broeckmann, Annet Dekker, Aram Bartholl, Anna Ehrenstein & Yara Makawei, and Marijn Bril. Interviews feature Joost Rekveld, Joana Chicau, Gökay Atabekand Rosa Menkman.
We are made of memory, but memory itself is a fiction
The exhibition Self Storage investigates how individuals construct identity through personal and intimate recollections, as well as through the technical and social systems that shape their traces. Memory is not an objective recording: it is an assemblage, a selective construction built from both forgetting and persistence. A memory emerges within a space shaped by desire, loss, and reconstruction. Self Storage foregrounds this subjective and unstable dimension of remembering. Diaries, family archives, obsolete technologies, and bodily reminiscences become raw materials to examine the materiality of memory and its capacity for reinvention.
Hard drives, clouds, online profi les, and social networks are gradually replacing notebooks and photo albums. This massive externalization questions the boundary between private memory and public exposure, between lived traces and standardized data. Self Storage extends this inquiry into a contemporary era where identity is stored, outsourced, and endlessly duplicated. Through the works assembled, the exhibition off ers a poetic and critical drift between real and invented memory, intimate and externalized. It prompts us to consider: What do we need to retain? What do we choose to forget? And what becomes of the “self” when it is reduced to archives, content, and imprints?
curation : Nicolas de Chérisey & Philippine de Salaberry in collaboration with Ellia gallery
participating artists:
Joël Andrianomearisoa, Maxime Antony, Marcella Barceló, Aram Bartholl, Federica Belli, Matthias Bitzer, Borgial, Victor Boyer, Amélie Caussade, Salomé Chatriot, Coucou Bébé, Nick Coutsier, Fleur Cozic, Paul Créange, Corentin Darré, Oli Epp, Léonor Fini, Nan Goldin, Gregor Hildebrandt, Ryoji Ikeda, Victoire Inchauspé, Éloïse Labarbe-Lafon, Octave Lauret, Louis Lekien, Inès Longevial, Keegan Luttrell, Shiva Lynn Burgos, Matisse Mesnil, Sabine Mirlesse, Polina Osipova, Louise des Places, Joséphine de Rohan-Chabot, Philippine de Salaberry, Tehotu, Egon Thuile, Thu-Van Tran, Louis Verret, Francesco Vezzoli, Rose Vidal, Xolo Cuintle, Kai Yoda, Yugnat999.
SPEED SHOW is back! We are very pleased to present a super diverse field of artists from net.art of the 1st generation to current web and screen based practice turning away from the platforms and smartphones to make work for the computer screen again. Back in the days monitors were heavy and computers weren’t mobile. Internet cafes were social spaces to meet and to be on the internet together. Over the years screens became smaller and flatter. Today we spend most of our time isolated on the black rectangle of a smartphone screen but a general fatigue of social media filled with clickbait-aislop has been making its way in the last few years. A young generation of digital artists is again producing exciting works for the computer screen, with pixels, HTML, as games, interaction and with a deep understanding of the web as the true social space. CU you at the cyber cafe!
Curated by: Aram Bartholl, Hugo Du Plessix & Emilie Blanchard / L’Avant Galerie Vossen
with: Cécile Babiole, Raphael Bastide, Nadja Buttendorf, Shu Lea Cheang, Vuk Ćosić, Insa Derk Wagner, Nathan Ghali, David Guez, Leander Herzog, Dasha Ilina, Jonas Lund, Stella Jacob, Cassie Mc Quater, Albertine Meunier, Vincent Moulinet, Rhea Myers, Nephilia, Eleonore Sense & Reem Saleh, Nicolas Sassoon, Antoine Schmitt, Florie Souday, Zero Crossing Point
May 28th 7:30-10:00pm, MILK cyber cafe, 31 BD SÉBASTOPOL, PARIS 1ER
Same night! ✨@avant.galerie opening „Rectangle noir“ group show! 6:00-9:00pm 58 rue chapon, 75003
For its new exhibition, the Avant Galerie Vossen brings together some twenty artists around the theme of the Rectangle. With this exhibition, the gallery continues to forge links between traditional practices and digital forms. *Black Rectangle* brings together painting, sculpture, installation, and new technologies.
A legendary motif
In the Lascaux caves, beneath the deer and bison we’ve known since childhood, researcher Stanislas Dehaene uncovered something unexpected: a black rectangle beneath the painting of the deer. The first geometric shape drawn by humankind. A minimal yet decisive sign—the beginning of symbolic thought, according to the researcher; this ability to create symbols is what makes us human; we are symbolic beings. Several millennia later, the black rectangle is still there, more than ever. It has multiplied; it covers our phone screens and our digital interfaces. The black rectangle censors, protects, hides. It is the form of imposed silence as much as it is of minimalist art. It is the browser window and the redaction bar. And it covers the walls of the Avant Galerie Vossen.
The black rectangle—poetic, humorous, political, algorithmic…
In the exhibition, the black rectangle takes on a poetic form for painters and sculptors. It is a humorous form for Apolline Régent when she plays with the legacy of the painter Malevich. It is a political form when Enora Denis finds it in facial recognition patents, masking the faces that feed the algorithms. It is an algorithmic form when Olivain Porry programs an AI to lie to other AIs and other humans. It is a physical form, rooted in the street, when Aram Bartholl seals a USB drive into the wall on Rue Chapon. It is fabric and sound when Cécile Babiole weaves electrical cables as one would weave wool.
In collaboration with Galerie Placido, 41 rue Chapon, 75003 Paris
With:
Clarisse AÏN, Jean-Michel ALBEROLA, Cécile BABIOLE, Robbie BARRAT, Ronan BARROT, Aram BARTHOLL, Louise BELIN, Ross BLECKNER, Benoit de BRETTES, CÉSAR, Mattia CUTTINI, Judith DEGOULET, Enora DENIS, David GUEZ, Grégoire HESPEL, Denis LAGET, Takesada MATSUTANI, Albertine MEUNIER, Hélène MILAKIS, PIERRE EDOUARD, Piero PIZZI CANNELLA, Olivain PORRY, Michel POTAGE, Apolline RÉGENT, Park SEO-BO, James SIENA, u2p050, Bernar VENET
From the exhibition flyer: ‘In our country, we are witnessing a strengthening AfD as a rallying party of the far-right and right-wing conservative spectrum. This year, significant events are taking place. On July 4th, the party intends to hold a federal party conference in Erfurt, the state capital of Thuringia — the very place where, exactly 100 years earlier, an NSDAP party conference was held. The NSDAP Reich Party Congress of 1926 is regarded as a turning point of the völkisch movement. At the time, the Nazis made a demonstrative march into the German National Theatre in Weimar…’
curated by Dirk Teschner und MIEZE SÜDLICH
Artists: Stefan Alber, Aram Bartholl, Benedikt Braun, Mirjam Dorsch, Thomas Draschan, Tony Franz, Tino Helbig, kanaluntersuchung (Frank Maibier / Andreas Winkler), Tonia Karn, Wilhelm Maria Elfriede Leithold, Dirk Leitloff, Eric Meier, MINETTA, Caterina Mitwalsky, Anne Mundo / Peter Wawerzinek, Ulrike Mundt, Alexander Neugebauer, Tommy Neuwirth, Thomas Prochnow, Christian Rothe, Hanna Schiller, Berni Bernchen feat Moritz Schleime, Marco Schmitt, Michal Schmidt, Bettina Scholz, Elisabeth Sonneck, Moritz Stumm, Ronny Szillo, Raul Walch, Ina Wudtke
Unfinished Reality
China-Europe Media:Art: Exchange Exhibition
Producer: Huang Liping
Academic Director: Lu Hong
Curators: Echo Can Luo, Hong Mei
Aram Bartholl
Tian Xiaolei
Shu Da
Fei Jun
Joel Baumann
Hou Shuai
Melissa E. Logan
Lin Xin
Wang Yezi
UBERMORGEN
Rosa Menkman
Xu Yan
Jero van Nieuwkoop
UNITIDE
Elko Braas
Vreneli Harborth

The WoW workshop/ performance at Laguna Art Museum was great fun! Thx to all participants and to the team!
Check all pics on flickr.
“WoW: Emergent Media Phenomenon” Laguna Art Museum, US
June 14 – October 4, 2009.

I am showing the piece “WoW” at the exhibition “WoW: Emergent Media Phenomenon” Laguna Art Museum, US
June 14 – October 4, 2009.
I’ll run the workshop and performance on 11th of July and will give a lecture on 12th at at Laguna Art Museum.
Today Zeng Han will talk about his work, would love to join. I like his cosplay style SOUL STEALER photo works a lot! (Pic on the left)
Participating artists:
Aram Bartholl (Berlin); Jorg Dubin (Laguna Beach); Alexander Galloway (New York); Jacqueline Goss (New York); Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn, Tale of Tales (Ghent, Belgium); John Klima (Lisbon, Portugal); Cyril Kuhn (Los Angeles); Antoinette LaFarge (Irvine); Mashallah Design and Linda Kostowski (Berlin); Robert Nideffer and Alex Szeto (Irvine); Airyka Rockefeller (San Francisco); Eddo Stern (Los Angeles); The Third Faction (Azeroth); and Zeng Han (Guangzhou)

This one I also found at M50 gallery area Shanghai. I like the kind of multi layered sign: 3D letters in perspective view plus perspective distortion!?!? The name of the gallery is great anyway 😉
( And of course there is a bit WoW in there.)

I’ll be be part of the workshop “Urban Space. Time to Play” 19th – 22th Oct. next week at eARTS Shanghai. I am looking forward to it and I am curious to test China for some paper based realtime urban adventure action. Stay tuned! More info

The one-day workshop I gave yesterday at Play08 17.-20.9.08 Potsdam, DE was great fun. The group in my workshop reflected on computer game experience in relation to day to day life. After my presentation the participants were invited to get involved in some paper work. 😉
Thx for the invitation!
Thx to Philip Preuss for support!
Stay tuned for the Lab08 presentation/exhibtion on Saturday. Lab08 shows existing work and is developing a group piece during the four days of play08.
More pics on flickr.
Lab08 team:
Jonas Hielscher (Köln)
http://www.pixelsix.net
Karin Lingnau (Köln)
http://www.karinlingnau.com/
Leif Rumbke (Hamburg)
http://www.rumbke.de/
Thomas Hawranke (Köln)
http://www.susigames.de
Richard Gutleber (Karlsruhe)
http://www.susigames.de
Marek Plichta (Potsdam)
http://marek.monoid.net

Two bags full of “WoW” fonts are waiting for action. During “play08” 18.-22.9.2008 Workshops, Creative Gaming Lab and exhibition organised by Creative Gaming I ll run a workshop with school classes getting hands on paper. 🙂 The ‘standalone’ version of “WoW” with small fonts attached to a headband was introduced last year at Ars Electronica. -> Pics
Thanks to Martin for Laseraction!
"WoW" at Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul from Aram Bartholl on Vimeo.
Nathalie Boseul SHIN curator at Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea had invited me to run the WoW workshop/performance for “Digital Playground” at “Hack the City” exhibition 22.7.2008 – 24.8.2008. On vimeo now the documentation of the workshop and performance produced by the exhibition crew as it was shown in the museum.
Total Museum of Contemporary Art
www.totalmuseum.org

The WoW workshop/performance for the Hack the City exhibition in Seoul was great fun. More pics and documentation coming soon.
Thx to all participants and to the TMCA team for all the support!

Nathalie Boseul SHIN curator at Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea invited me to run the WoW workshop/performance for this exhibition. “Digital Playground” is an annual media art exhibition started in 2005 at Eujeongbu International Media Art Festival. I am quite exited to run WoW in korean hangul letter system.
22.7.2008 – 24.8.2008
Total Museum of Contemporary Art
465-16 Pyeongchang-dong, Jongro-gu
Seoul 110-012, Korea
www.totalmuseum.org
Digital Playground 2008 “Hack the City!”
Recently, the outlook of Seoul is rapidly changing. It means we are surrounded by ‘under construction’ sign boards. Seoul is under-construction. One day, we have the artificial river, Cheonggae-cheon” at the down town, huge buildings, parks. What is changing is not only outlook, but our daily life is also changed. It is no longer surprise thing or imagination to watch TV or talk with friends face to face.
Last year, Seoul city government announced big plan ‘Seoul city gallery project’ which is for making Seoul as the art city. Many art works are installed on the street, overpasses. People can enjoy art in the park. However, take the different perspective, and ask to ourselves. for what we need art installations in public spaces? Furthermore, what is purpose of art in that sense? There are many kinds of arts, but if we can say about contemporary ‘media’ art, it should be more clear about that question. As I quoted above, “artists alone can’t change the world”, but I believe “artists can make people see or think the other side of what is actually happening with artworks or projects”
It is time to “Hack the city!”
The word of ‘hack’ ing does not mean the specific media oriented act in the computer science. It is not used in negative way which is stealing personal information without permission, either. Rather it is right to say that this word is chosen in the metaphorical context: critical thinking, reconsider of our social system and technology. If people think the place/space where they live, reconsider about the technologies which they use everyday like mobile phone, become unfamiliar with familiar things, then we can say that we are close to make the world what we dream.
This project is consists of two parts. First part is related with actual data which artists get from Seoul city such as traffic flow, sound capture and transfer, some official statistic data. For this TMCA collaborated with media lab in universities. EWHA Womans University and Chungang University join with
by Nathalie Boseul SHIN
For the exhibition “Hack the City” at Total Museum of Contemporary Art Seoul South Corea end of July I will run the “WoW” workshop and performance in hangul letter system. On the left a screenshot from south corean version of World of Warcraft. Nice!