Aram Bartholl prefers to funnel Internet into „real“ life. At the museum entrance, he has reproduced the backdrop of first-person shooter game Counterstrike. „A lot of people play this kind of game and know its layout quite well“, said Bartholl. That is why he wanted to bring these spaces into real life – which particularly excited him as an architect. „These buildings only exist on servers and software. I think they should be built.“

The piece „Are you Human“ shows a captcha code on large, rusty iron loops on the floor. These are the codes that users must often input on websites to post a comment to an article.

Captcha codes can not be read by machines. By entering the code, users alert the program or the website that they are a human and not a bot that sends spam. „It was important for me to experiment with it on a big scale and give real weight and materiality to an otherwise fleeting Internet signature,“ Bartholl said.

Many „officials“ from the art scene are still wary of web art. But this seems to be slowly changing. „At first Internet was not so overtly visible in public,“ said the exhibition’s curator Olaf Val, from Kassel Art Association. „Now one can see Internet subjects on the news every day. And the consequence is that the artists involved with it are also taken more seriously.“ Val said he hopes that in the future, increasing numbers web artists are able to exhibit their work.

The public is certainly interested. Visitors at the Kassel exhibition are not only computer and Internet nerds but hail from all age groups interested in art. Nevertheless, one part of the exhibition leaves some visitors clueless. Bartholl curated a parallel exhibition, in which 14 artists participated. It is a room with 14 routers. Each router shows a piece of Internet artwork (a website, a video, or an animation). But it only works if you have a smartphone, as visitors must log into the router to see the artwork. This is a perfect example of Bartholl’s intent: show how digital and real world converge. But it is also a reminder that not everyone is so well-connected to the digital world. Visitors without a tablet or a smartphone only see small, black squares on a wall.

Bartholl’s works are closely in tune with the times. He must constantly create something new, because Internet and the way people interact with it changes so quickly. The artist has even chased after a Google-camera car while waving. As a result he makes a few cameo appearances on Google Streetview, while the houses behind him are pixelated.

Edward Snowden and the NSA affair have also inspired Bartholl. He has printed an encrypted key in big letters on a canvas. To the left is a portrait of US president, Barack Obama, wearing Google glasses. Only one word protrudes from the speech bubble: „PRISM.“

from: http://www.dw.com/en/out-of-the-internet-and-into-the-gallery/a-17085144

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!

participating artists :
Cory Arcangel, Kim Asendorf, Claude Closky, Constant Dullaart, Dragan Espenschied, Faith Holland, JODI, Olia Lialina, Jonas Lund, Evan Roth, Phil Thompson, Emilie Gervais & Sarah Weis

curated by Aram Bartholl

new2 is the first show realized in the OFFLINE ART exhibition format.  Web-based art works will be disconnected from the Internet but accessible via a wireless network. A high-profile selection of twelve artists from various ‚Internet generations‘ – all of whom work digitally and online – will present both old and recent works. OFFLINE ART: new2 is a group show about files, versions and copies that question the idea of endless ’novelty‘ in an era of daily remixing on the Internet. A digital file can be copied endlessly, without any loss of quality, thus enabling a web culture of nonstop creating, sharing and remixing files, which has influenced an entire generation of artists.

Over the last two decades, Internet artists have been constantly and prolifically creating web-based works. Files are often collected online, reused, recycled and remixed in varied ways. A former version of the file is called ‘new.gif’ and it becomes outdated five minutes later, with the arrival of ’new2.gif’. Computers and the Internet don’t require a final version. “I still need to make some changes…”

What is the current state of net art and what happens when works are taken offline? What is the correct format for a work of art that is to be shown in a gallery if it had only existed previously on the web? What is the relationship between Internet art and the ever-growing number of mobile devices? OFFLINE ART: new2 reflects recent discussions among artists and curators about whether or not pieces should be available offline and how this should occur. All pieces in this show are browser-based and at the same time only locally accessible. In the end, each artist decides how and which version will also be available on the Internet.

The OFFLINE ART exhibition format:

Browser-based digital art works are broadcast locally from wifi routers which are not connected to the Internet. Each art work is assigned a single wifi router which is accessible through any device, like smart-phones, tablets or laptops. To access the different art works, the visitor has to connect to each network individually. The name of the network reflects the name of the artist. No matter what URL is opened, only the specific artwork appears in the browser. A small web server holding the art piece is installed on a USB flash drive which is connected to the router. Like frames holding the art, the routers are hung in the exhibition space which is otherwise empty. The art i tself becomes visible only on the visitor’s private screen.The pieces are locally widely accessible but disconnected from the Internet

Aram Bartholl 2013

DAM GALLERY shows the first solo exhibition of Berlin based artist Aram Bartholl (*1972, Bremen), whose works are engaged in a tension-filled dialogue between virtual and real life. In 2011 Bartholl participated in exhibitions at MoMA, New York, at the Pace Gallery, New York and at DAM GALLERY, Cologne.

His works reflect the pulse of the time, they are not based on simple observation of an artistic object, but are characterized by thought-provoking impulses stimulated by Aram and by the subsequent independent existence that his projects develop through the participation of the audience. His interventions in public space, his installations and sculptures in the tradition of ready mades are based on a DIY-culture – not in the sense of dilettantism but of individual creation and individual responsibility – as well as on the popular emblems of the internet, that Bartholl surprisingly confronts us with in reality.

Opening + Book Release: 27 Januar, 7 – 9 pm, Aram Bartholl – The Speed Book, Gestalten-Verlag, 2012

7.30 pm: Performance How to Vacuum Form by Aram Bartholl, + Book Presentation by Domenico Quaranta (author and curator)