Life is a beach … and then you die

2019
installation
chair, 4C flag print, fiberglass rod, oven, aluminum exhaust pipe, cable, tablet, video
3 × 4 × 2,2m

The ‘Webaround’ webcam background is a round, chroma key blue screen made of neoprene that fits over the back of an office chair. It blocks out the background behind a seated person during webcam sessions. In Berlin, old, worn-out and broken chairs are often dumped on the street. For “Life is a beach and then you die” Aram Bartholl scanned various Berlin neighbourhoods for these lonely, sad chairs abandoned in public space. In a gesture of compassion, each found chair receives a blue halo to honor the trillions of hours humankind spends in front of screens these days. These office chairs represent the time-consuming and often precarious work at computer desks. Like a parasite, the false background clings to the chair with an unredeemable promise.

Exhibitions:

  • True Depth, SMAC, Berlin, 2019
  • Metanatural Landscapes, panke.gallery, Berlin, 2019
  • Erneuerbare Medien, Kunstverein Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, 2020
  • :-#, Kunstverein Rotenburg, Rotenburg, 2023
  • *cringe*, HGW STD, Athens, 2023

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Public intervention: Dumped street chairs equipped with a commercially available bluescreen in a moment of honor for the many hours of screen time they’ve witnessed.