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
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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 🎀
Catalog release of the exhibition ‚Parcel ready for pickup!‘ at Kunsthalle Osnabrück (15.7.2023 – 25.2.2024)
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.
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!
An interview I gave at the opening of ★RETWEET★IF★YOU★WANT★MORE★FOLLOWERS★ by Yvette Neliaz THX!!
http://www.damepipi.tv/2013/05/aram-bartholl-retweet-if-you-want-more.html
ARCHEOLOGIE DU PRESENT IS A WORK IN PROGRESS BY YVETTE NELIAZ POUR http://DAMEPIPI.TV
★RETWEET★IF★YOU★WANT★MORE★FOLLOWERS★
XPO gallery, Paris
17.5.-26.6.2013, opening May 16, 7pm
THX EVERYONE!! OPENING WAS GREAT!!! :)))
★RETWEET★IF★YOU★WANT★MORE★FOLLOWERS★
First solo show in Paris by Aram Bartholl at xpo gallery
17.5.-26.6.2013, opening May 16, 7pm
xpo gallery, Paris
PRESS:
http://www.aqnb.com/2013/05/22/aram-bartholl-xpo-gallery-reviewed/
http://www.damepipi.tv/2013/05/aram-bartholl-retweet-if-you-want-more.html
http://www.fadwebsite.com/2013/05/23/aram-bartholl-exposition-personnelle/
Flickr picture set
Statement:
Aram Bartholl’s work creates an interplay between internet, culture and reality. The
versatile communication channels are taken for granted these days, but how do they
influence us? According to the paradigm change of media research Bartholl not just
asks what man is doing with the media, but what media does with man. The tension
between public and private, online and offline, technology infatuation and everyday
life creates the core of his producing.
For the show Retweet if you want more followers at xpo gallery, Paris exhibition
Aram Bartholl created a series of new works questioning the Internet immanent
ubiquitous scream for attention. The constant stream of codes, signs and change
force the user to filter, decode and recalibrate every day. Screen scape of high speed
time lines, hidden code, endless video or 3D space invade our minds for ever while
large parts are blocked. The impossible to remember what link was hot last week is
ignored by the calm, hypnotic glow of the screen which makes us smile.
Retweet this now!
Works:
Retweet
LED sign , Book, 120x40x8 cm
Twitter is the most advanced incarnation of todays high-speed online attention craze. What are the
hottest breaking news? Which are the latest trending topics? Gossip never traveled so fast! The fastest
way to spread information on Twitter is to get a lot of retweets on a single tweet. The more user repeat
the original message the more attention it gets. The invitation to ‚RETWEET!‘ is a typical tweet format to
generate retweets and thus also more followers which are the currency on twitter. A vast stream of
mostly self-referential tweets containing ‚retweet‘ are fired off on twitter every second. In an endless
scream for attention the follow-train runs silently on high speed through the never-ending timeline.
Credits: Greg Leuch
Private Password
b/w monochrome series
C-print, aluminum dibond, acryl, 59×77 cm
Like many other Internet services LinkedIn.com got hacked in summer 2012 and lost its user database
to unknown hackers. A couple months later a part of the encrypted passwords lists was leaked in
forums specialized in decrypting passwords as a ‚computer sport‘. Private Password is a series of prints
each showing ca 12.000 clear text passwords of actual LinkedIn users accounts. Each password was
invented by a single individual, complicated enough so it can’t be guessed easily but at the same time
simple enough to memorize it. While online identities became more and more important consumer
hardware of today equals the processing power of super computers from 2000. A password you can
learn by heart without hard training is not a save password any more.
Art Forums
Website and installation
website, PC laptop, USB hub, USB led fans
Art-forums.org is a classic Internet forum website with a default setup of the bulletin board software
php BB. Everyone is invited to register at art-forum.org to discuss art. Internet forums as a place for
direct user interaction represent a massive and important part of Internet culture and online
communication. In the era of FB, Twitter and social web Internet forums with their typical design,
animated emoticons and amateur culture seem outdated although they are more open and interactive
than a FB wall. The same underestimation is true for classic PC hardware culture and its gadgets vs the
new polished monofunctional era of tablet computing. ‚Art-forums.org! The best way to discuss art
online‘
Offline Monochrome
Triptych
3 wifi routers, 35x85x3 cm
Disconnected from the Internet each of the three routers broadcasts a single monochrome color.
Visitors have to connect individually to each of the local networks to see every part of the triptych on
their mobile device. Are there enough visitors to see all three at once? How do the mobile screens
correspond with the router installation? What are the screen sizes and the quality of each display?
Questions for a classic wall piece format re-calibrated for 2013.
PrintScreen
Series of monotypes
acryl on paper, canvas, plexi, aluminum, variable from 16×23 to 58×80 cm
Screens are our every day window to digital space. We spend many hours every day looking at screens
of any kind and dimension. Over the last couple decades computer screens have changed constantly in
size and proportions. In more recent years mobile screens became prominent and soon the classic
rectangle will move into glasses vision. Todays screens can display millions of colors, the resolution and
number of dots per inch are getting higher and higher. In a close relationship the printed image has
been under heavy digital influence ever since the computer became mass medium in the production of
the image. The physical screen doesn’t seem to exist as long it is turned on. Its magic glow blinds us
with a constant demand for attention. PrinttSceen is a series of actual monotype prints of my very first
PC black & white CRT tube, my current 2560 x 1600px LCD display and my actual mobile phone touch
screen.
Dust Scapes
Unique,
C-print, alumium dibond, acryl, 141×60 cm
The computer game Counter Strike is one of the most successful first person shooter series and was
especially popular in the first half of the 10’s of the 21st century. With new groundbreaking teamplay
game mechanics it profoundly influenced the game development of the FPS gaming genre. Millions of
gamers have played the game and its scenarios over and over. De_dust used to be one of the most
popular maps in the early days of the game. A vast amount of memory and emotional burst by an
unbelievable large number of players is compressed into this very space. The pure architecture and
absence of the action in Dust Scapes amplifies the collective memory of the space, which only exists in
software on servers.
Dust (model)
Scale 1:333
3D print, laser sinther, alumide, 36 x 33 x 4,5 cm
Dust is a 1:1 scale replica of one of the most played computer game maps in the world. The idea is to
build the 3D model of ‘de_dust’ of the first person shooter game Counter Strike as a permanent
‘building’ from concrete to make this map accessible as a large-scale public sculpture. The dimension
would be 115 x 110 x 15 meter and material is planned to be concrete. Dust (model) is a 1:333 scale
model 3D printed in alumide of the actual planned building and exact copy of the gaming map. The
ongoing development of the whole Dust project was initially commissioned by Rhizome NYC in 2011
Are you human?
Series, unique
aluminum anodised 3mm, laser cut, 44×122 cm to 39×89 cm
CAPTCHA is the acronym for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans
Apart“ and was developed in 2000 by information scientists at the Carnegie Mellon University, USA.
Web-based services such as Yahoo require users to recognize and type a randomly generated series of
letters or numbers which appear on the screen as a CAPTCHA image. This test is designed to ensure
that a web form is not being completed by the automatic scripts used by spammers. But sometime it is
also for humans quite hard to decrypt the distorted letters and numbers while the software by
spammers still often succeeds. Unlike every other file on the Internet each code is uniquely generated
by a script on the server and is disposed once it has been used. It will never appear again online in this
very form.
Google Portrait
Series, Google search: Sergey Brin
charcoal on paper, 1m x 1m
A Google Portrait is a drawing that shows the Google search request for a specific person in form of an
encoded URL. Any smart phone is capable to decode the matrix-code with a barcode reader app. In
return the software runs a Google search on the portrayed person and shows the result page in the
browser. ‚Vanity surfing‘ is a very popular way to make sure the Google result page does not show
unwanted information. This very page with the 10 most important links represents the contemporary
portrait of a person today. It is the first batch of information we learn about someone. It puts people in
context of their activities and often also displays pictures. The portrait dynamically changes over time
depending on Googles algorithms. While the drawing of the QR code is static the activities of the
portrait person result in a constantly changing online identity
Forgot your password?
Aram Bartholl
2013
4.7 million LinkedIn clear text user passwords printed in alphabetical order in eight books (21 x 27 cm, ca. 800 pages each) shown at
Brand Innovations for Ubiquitous Authorship
A group exhibition stolen by Eva and Franco Mattes
at Carroll / Fletcher, 23 April – 11 May 2013
Really good show!! Thx for great pics! Good text!
Vernissage
Mittwoch, 08.05.2013, 20:00 – 22:00 Uhr
Motorenhalle – Wachsbleichstraße 4a, 01067 Dresden
http://riesa-efau.de/kalender/2013/05/08/fussnoten-zum-aufbruch-950/
A human being gets off, a group, many groups, generations, whole societies are in a state of breakup. What does connect these breakups? What kind of effects into art and out of art do they have? Phenomena of setting off will be illuminated from many different perspectives. The result will be a network of possible meanings for the individual and the collectivity. The term breakup is mainly connoted positively. But of course, there are also many examples for a problematic or even absolutely negative breakup. Eventually the word has got several aspects of meaning in our language. Besides the internal or external breakup to new – internal or external again – worlds, there is also the simple breakup of the road surface, of incrustations, of painting tops.
In the exhibition „Footnotes to breakup“ and the accompanying events, we will ask questions for the tensions between personal, collective and social breakups and get to the bottom of them together with artists and other experts. Do we live in a period of a breakup? How do they work? Is there after Fukushima, amid a fiscal and a crisis of values, a stronger willingness to break fresh ground? Nearly nobody will start just for a breakup, for sure. This begs the question of the motives, as well as of those who don’t want to or cannot get off. At the latest since modernity breakup has basically been a term with positive connotations. Associations seem likely to utopia or the New human.
No later than at this point it becomes clear how complex and problematic the per se harmlessly seeming breakup can be. On the one hand, we will continue the topic breakup of last year’s Phenomenon Prosperity, but on the other hand we will also refer to our own situation. In front of the Motorenhalle there is being erected a new building for us. Its completion at the end of this year will imply another breakup for riesa efau, of course, and thereby give an impulse for our reflections.
Fußnoten zum Aufbruch
In der Ausstellung Fußnoten zum Aufbruch und den begleitenden Veranstaltungen sind Fragen nach den Spannungen zwischen persönlichen, kollektiven und gesellschaftlichen Aufbrüchen zu stellen und gemeinsam mit Künstlern und weiteren Experten auszuloten. Leben wir in einer Zeit des Aufbruchs? Wie wirken Aufbrüche? Gibt es nach Fukushima, inmitten einer Fiskal- und Wertekrise eine höhere Bereitschaft, neue Wege zu gehen? Wohl kaum Jemand bricht allein des Aufbrechens wegen auf. Die Frage nach den Motiven steht ebenso wie die nach denen, die nicht aufbrechen wollen oder können. Spätestens seit der Moderne ist der Begriff des Aufbruchs prinzipiell positiv besetzt. Assoziationen zur Utopie oder zum Neuen Menschen liegen nahe. Spätestens in diesem Augenblick aber wird klar, wie vielschichtig und wie problematisch der an sich harmlos scheinende Aufbruch sein kann. Mit dem Thema Aufbruch schließen wir einerseits an Phänomen Wohlstand aus dem vergangenen Jahr an, beziehen uns andererseits aber auch auf unsere eigene Situation. Vor der Motorenhalle wird gerade ein Neubau errichtet, dessen Fertigstellung zum Jahresende für riesa efau natürlich einen neuerlichen Aufbruch bedeuten wird und so einen Anstoß für unsere Überlegungen gibt.
Künstler/innen
Zbynek Baladrán (Prag/CZ), Aram Bartholl (Berlin), Franca Bartholomäi (Halle), Till Ansgar Baumhauer (Dresden), Ondrej Brody & Kristofer Paetau (Prag/CZ), Gregory Buchert (Lyon/F), Maria Bussmann (Wien/AT), Ayelen Coccoz (Buenos Aires/AR), Chto Delat (St. Petersburg, Moskau/RU), Ulrike Gärtner (Dresden), Göran Gnaudschun (Potsdam), Arti Grabowski (Krakow/PL), Igor Grubic (Zagreb/HR), Eberhard Havekost (Berlin), Martin Kippenberger/Walter Dahn (Köln), Friedl Kubelka (Wien/AT), Heimo Lattner (Berlin), Muda Mathis + Sus Zwick (Basel/CH), Eduardo Molinari (Buenos Aires/AR), Pavel Mrkus (Rumburk/CZ), Société Réaliste (Ferenc Gróf & Jean-Baptiste Naudy, Paris, Budapest/F/H), Stefan Nestler (Dresden), The Trailblazers (Mircea Nicolae, Stefan Tiron und Larisa Sitar, Bukarest/RO), Laura Pawela (Warschau/PL), Ute Richter (Leipzig), Jürgen Schön (Dresden), Jirí Suruvka (Ostrava/CZ)
Aram Bartholl (D)
How To Vacuum Form
Installation und Video (6:13 Min.), 2012
In vielen seiner Arbeiten reagiert Aram Bartholl auf die zunehmende Virtualisierung unseres Lebens mit einer Re-Materialisierung von Zeichen, Icons oder Verhaltensweisen zurück in die materielle Welt, die eigentlich nur im virtuellen Web- Raum Web einen Sinn haben. In der vorliegenden Arbeit balanciert der Künstler noch subtiler zwischen virtuellem und realem Environment. Er inszeniert eine Arbeitsstation zur Do it Yourself- Herstellung und Bemalung von Guy-Fawkes-Masken.In diesen anonymisieren sich in der Gegenwart Hacker der Gruppe Anonymus, deren Name geht auf die Bezeichnung eben anonymer Kommentatoren in Foren, aber auch anonymer Spieler in Games zurück; die Maske wurde Symbol der Occupy Wall Street und weiterer antikapitalistischer Bewegungen, Symbol für Veränderung, Revolution. Als solches wird sie durchaus ernst genommen. So wurde in einigen arabischen Staaten das Tragen der Maske verboten, da sie im Kontext des Arabischen Frühlings als Bedrohung der statischen Verhältnisse interpretiert wurde. Zu den Volten der Geschichte der Maske gehört aber auch, dass die ursprünglich vom Zeichner David Lloyd mit durchaus anarchistischen Ideen gestaltete Maske ausgerechnet von Anhängern des ehemaligen konservativen US-Präsidentschaftskandidaten Ron Paul in die Öffentlichkeit gebracht worden ist. Interessant ist an der Geschichte hinter der Maske, wie der durchaus als religiös fundamentalistisch und konservativ zu wertende Anschlagsversuch des historischen Guy- Fawkes vom Beginn des 17. Jahrhunderts – als Sprengstoffexperte wollte er als Teil einer katholischen Verschwörung den englischen König samt Parlament in die Luft sprengen – sehr schnell auch als anarchischer, befreiender Akt interpretiert wurde.
In der Installation von Aram Bartholl liegt der leichten Maske eine schwere Gipsform zu Grunde. Eine total abenteuerlich- wackelige Konstruktion bringt die Hitze auf die PVC Platte. Mit einer demgegenüber regelrecht profimäßigen Vakuumpumpe saugt man die heiße Platte in die Form. Auf dem Tisch liegen Arbeitsergebnisse, Halbzeuge und Arbeitsmaterialien verstreut. Man kann sich bedienen.Neben der hinlänglich bekannten weißen Maske gibt es schwarze Exemplare. Durch den popkulturellen Bezug auf Darth Vader verstärkt, fließt der Dualismus von Gut und Böse ein, von Hell und Dunkel, Ying und Yang. Da es zu einfach wäre, den Betrachter mit einer derart simplen Botschaft zu entlassen, gibt es die Masken auch in einer dritten Farbe, in der Transparenz. Allein diese Maske stellt als Edition ein Kunstwerk dar. Hinter der Maske, die auf einem Stativ in die Gesichtshöhe justierbar ist, kann man sich fotografieren lassen. Man kann auch sinnen über den Sinn von Maskierungen oder über den schönen künstlerischen Griff, per Definition Intransparentes transparent zu machen.Im Video, das die Installation begleitet, ist nicht nur das „Making of“ der Installation und die Anleitung zur Fertigung der Maske sondern auch der Auftritt des Künstlers mit seinem Stand bei einem Compuer-Kongress zu sehen. Womit wir zurück am Beginn wären.
Imagine a search engine inserts a personal easter egg for you! :))))) thx guys!!
@arambartholl thanks for sharing @duckduckgo! An easter egg in your honor duckduckgo.com/?q=arambartholl — bottom right corner 🙂
@arambartholl thanks for sharing @duckduckgo! An easter egg in your honor https://t.co/8ORAMeMTqe — bottom right corner 🙂
— DuckDuckGo (@DuckDuckGo) May 22, 2013