019 - Analogue tour and digital barriers
Nik Nowak, Horn #27, 2020
Photo by Trevor Good, courtesy alexander levy and the artist
Gallery tour with obstacles
Hello Smart Art Lover,
Slowly the vaccination is rolling out, an arctic wind is blowing through Berlin and everybody around me seems weary of Lockdown. Last week I went on an afternoon tour after a long break. Just on the day when the Berlin Senate had ordered that every gallery visitor is only allowed to view art with prior registration, a FFP2 mask and negative rapid test result. Depending on the interpretation, from the same day or even from yesterday. Sound exhausting? It is.
König and, spontaneously, Sprüth Magers had decided to make their contribution to fighting the pandemic. And have since closed their exhibitions to visitors. To me, that sounds more like I don't want to deal with all that administrative stuff, and you don't bring me anything anyway, so just stay away. But that's just my interpretation. Let me rather tell you about the tour.
Wanderlust with joy
Oil paintings by the British artist Tom Anholt hang in Eigen + Art. In his motifs, he refers to art historical models such as Manet's Olympia. But I also recognise other Old Masters like Rosseau. The strongest effect is found in the floral still life Babylon at the entrance and the work Ada's Dream. When I look at them, I feel a real sense of joy at seeing works of art in a gallery once again. Take a look.
Then it's on to the Thomas Schulte gallery with a well done Hamish Fulton exhibition. This established conceptual artist explores landscapes and captures them in beautifully graphic murals. As I look at the large-format works with their foreign and familiar location names, wanderlust sets in, much to my delight. Go there soon.
I then stop in at the gallery of Alexander Levy, who takes the time to guide me through Nik Nowak's current solo exhibition. Mind Maps of the individual elements of his great KINDL installation Schizo Sonics, which I already told you about in autumn, hang in display cases on the walls. On minimalist-industrial plinths rest horns made of ceramic, which the artist created in search of the original instrument. Nik Nowak works confidently in his niche between sound effects, creative warfare, and cultural transfer. And the desire to see more of this artist grows stronger in me. A sound show.
Lastly, I went to ChertLüdde. The group exhibition there is bold and reminds me more of a biennial than a sales exhibition. Especially Stephanie Comilang's film installation with its flooring made of cardboard boxes takes me to Hong Kong in surreal documentary shots. Spellbound, I follow a Philippine group and their experiences. The charming gallery director Clarissa Tempestini shows me the showroom with paintings by the artist Alije Vokshi from Kosovo. Another rediscovery. In the main room there are dark and gloomy works, in contrast to which colourful plant abstractions that shine out in the white-washed chamber. Beautifully curated.
Tom Anholt
Close to Home
March 25 - April 24, 2021
EIGEN+ART, Berlin
Hamish Fulton
Insignificant Insect?
March 6 - April 17, 2021
Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin
Nik Nowak
12 Töne
February 5 - April 10, 2021
alexander levy, Berlin
So close I can see inside of you
with
Gabriel Chaile, Stephanie Comilang, Daniel Falb, Christine Sun Kim, Juan Antonio Olivares, Naufus Ramirez Figuero, Vanessa Safavi
March 6 - April 17, 2021
ChertLüdde, Berlin
Alije Vokshi
I Decided to Draw Bigger Hands
March 6 - April 17, 2021
ChertLüdde, Berlin
Manuel Rosner, König Decentraland, Outside
Courtesy the artist and König, Berlin
Post-Internet is now called Postdigital
While Johann König is closing his analogue exhibition spaces to the public, he has boarded the NFT train. Quick to react and ready to experiment, he presents the digital group exhibition The Artist Is Online. Manuel Rossner has reconstructed St. Agnes in the fantastic realm called Decentraland for this occassion. In parallel, there is an analogue exhibition of the same name in his Saleroom, curated by the gallerist himself and Monopol columnist Anika Meier, an expert on digital art. From 26 to 31 March, you could bid for some of the exhibited works from Decentraland as NFTs on the Marketplace Opensea. The whole festival is underpinned by conversations on instagram and Clubhouse. Can you follow me so far?
I need some time to understand the whole concept. There are the classic analogue exhibitions in the nave and the chapel, which I'm not allowed to visit. Then in the Saleroom there is an exhibition The Artist is Online. Painting and Sculpture in the Postdigital Age. I'm not allowed to visit that either, but I can view it online, thanks to Artbutler Light. This presentation technique from the database software company feels like a variant of the Online Viewing Room at Art Basel. At least it's transparent with prices and status. Nevertheless, I am puzzled by the title and the selection. What is called Postdigital here was still Post-Internet in the mid-2010s. This term came up in the late 2000s to describe a group of artists and their practice who had grown up with the internet. But the hype has faded. Or is it just being relaunched in the shadow of the NFTs?
Frustration not joy
According to the press release, I can view parts of the Saleroom exhibition digitally via the König app. After downloading, I find a cousin of the Google Streetview man on my display, in a digital replica of the staircase to the nave. I can make this dopey-looking avatar move, jump and look around. My radius of movement is limited to the nave. But more than a parcours is not possible. Not cool. But there is still the version in Decentraland. The König website doesn't really help. I only see some installation views and can watch a Youtube video. In it, the digital St. Agnes stands in a kind of digital Miami Beach. The whole thing looks like an amalgam of The Sims Super Deluxe and advanced Minecraft, sweetened with blockchain technology. But I want more and go straight to the Decentraland site. And encounter the next hurdle. To view the exhibition, I need a crypto wallet with which I can convert Euros into Bitcoin & Co. Surprisingly, I don't have it with me right now. End of the road.
Last try. There was an NFT auction on Opensea parallel to the exhibition from March 26 to 31. I can't find any more links to this auction and have to put it together myself. After a bidding war between 519064, bitcoin1mill and 86D2C7 300 JONAS LUND TOKENS (JLTxNFT) went to the latter for 1.15 ETH, the equivalent of about EUR 2,000. Looking through the 29 works, I find only a small number of users, with names reminiscent of R2-D2 and C-3PO from Star Wars. 519064 is on almost everyone's list. When I look at his public portfolio, I think more of eye cancer than connoisseurship. But 86D2C7 gives me hope. I can literally see the scene before my eyes. Because NFTs are so cool, a dozen tech-savvy young collectors want their own auction in Germany. Although he is currently opening another room in Korea, Johann König is an entrepreneur by heart. And creates his own NFT auction embedded in an analogue and digital sales exhibition. Blockchain enthusiasts are happy. The audience gets to watch and applaud on the sidelines. There is definitely room for improvement.
The Artist Is Online Digital Paintings and Sculptures in a Virtual World
with
Olive Allen, LaTurbo Avedon, Banz & Bowinkel, Ry David Bradley, Damjanski, Maja Djordjevic, Ben Elliot, Rachel de Joode, Keiken, Nik Kosmas, Mario Klingemann, Zach Lieberman, Jonas Lund, Andy Picci, Manuel Rossner, Kenny Schachter, Aaron Scheer, Emma Stern, Anne Vieux, Addie Wagenknecht, Thomas Webb, John Yuyi
Decentraland
March 21 - April 21, 2021
König, Berlin
Courtesy Cyan
By the way
In my spare time, I'm currently playing Myst, a 90s classic computer game, with my cool programmer friend. Reimagined for the Virtual Three-Dimensional Experience, my living room is transformed into a walk-through island of puzzles with the Oculus Quest glasses. I read digital books on virtual temple steps while the pixel sea roars in the background. After a few visits, everything already seems familiar.
There is something like magic here that has not yet been fully exploited. The technology still needs a few more stages of development, but already I am simply overwhelmed in between. What could this mean for contemporary art? Hopefully we will find out.
Be brave, gentle, and smart.
Yours,
Florian Christopher
