curated by Ugo Pecoraio
What lies beyond the surface of a painting? What remains unseen? In his solo exhibition for KUNSTSURFER, Linus Weber delves into new realities by crafting digital landscapes that extend the life of his originally analog paintings. Weber's works inhabit these newly imagined environments—universes where stories persist and flourish, transcending the boundaries of imagination.
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curated by Chiara Giardi
Pasuth Sa-ingthong presents a new body of work titled “Interconnectedness”. The project shows fragmented views of a glowing fractal-based structure in a swampy area. This was inspired by the folklore surrounding the Phae Mueang Phi forest park in northern Thailand. The park is well-known for its mushroom-like stone formations and the legend of an old woman who suddenly found gold and silver but could only find her way home once she left the treasure behind. Pasuth Sa-ingthong draws on the mystery of this place to explore the interconnectedness between the natural and digital world through myth and fractal structures.
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curated by Ugo Pecoraio
Jennifer Merlyn Scherler’s work "Wasteland, Baby!" returns in a new form as a digital portal on KUNSTSURFER. Originally presented as a video installation at HEK (House of Electronic Arts), this work delves into grieving strategies for coping with global warming and ecological catastrophes, often embracing back-to-nature movements.
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curated by Chiara Giardi and Evita Verbrugge
For “All too human?” Dagmar Schürrer presents excerpts of "Where does the rest of the world begin" and Nanut Thanapornrapee shows his work “CAPTHCA” (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Humans and Computers Apart). Their independent research interestingly meets in the quest for understanding the human condition. If Schürrer’s work challenges the notion of a human as an exceptional, singularly conscious individual entity, Thanapornrapee’s reminds us of our cyborg identities through speculation and sci-fi.
curated by Heiko Schmid
TWILIGHT OF THE IDOLS: A Simulacrum within Simulacra" is a small digital excerpt from the intricate, research-based artwork TWILIGHT OF THE IDOLS, which explores the Deleuzian concept of the simulacrum. Utilising KUNSTSURFER, it replaces generic online advertisements with artistic representations, effectively transforming the digital realm into a promotional platform for a fictional museum.
curated by Heiko Schmid
A shimmering space opens up when the human is touching the non-human. AND THEN WE TOUCH raises our awareness of the performative nature of categories such as humanity and animality and confronts us with our own needs for sensuality, touch and playfulness.
curated by Chiara Giardi & Kenneth Ting Yu Lin
How do web-based creative practices relate across cultures and national borders? ‘Framed : Wormhole’ is a cultural and professional exchange. It asks questions like: If we take culture to include our online activities and identities, how do their online and offline sides relate to each other?
curated by Noemi Garay (Panke Gallery)
"Soft Narratives" presents works by Molly Soda, Maya Man, and Chia Amisola - three artists who use the internet to develop their sensitive and multimodal narratives. In the exhibition, the selected works are also interpreted as examples of a new generation of internet artists.
curated by Evita Verbrugge, Heiko Schmid & Ugo Pecoraio
Testing, downloading, and conversations at Helmhaus, Zurich.
curated by Chiara Giardi, Evita Verbrugge, Heiko Schmid, Itay Blaish and Ugo Pecoraio
The exhibition will reflect on current digital culture and online advertisement, taking over imagery from memes, cyborg-like figures, people created by artificial intelligence, virtual reality worlds and even internet porn.
Jennifer Merlyn Scherler’s work "Wasteland, Baby!" returns in a new form as a digital portal on KUNSTSURFER. Originally presented as a video installation at HEK (House of Electronic Arts), this work delves into grieving strategies for coping with global warming and ecological catastrophes, often embracing back-to-nature movements.
Now reimagined for KUNSTSURFER, Scherler's piece transforms into an experience, allowing audiences to explore the emotional journeys of three protagonists—Lover, Parent, Daughter—as they navigate their losses. These figures not only build the framework of Scherler’s work but are also inspired by the Greek myth explaining the origin of the changing seasons.
Through the interface of KUNSTSURFER, the installation becomes a collective ritual of accepting grief. This theme aligns with Scherler’s focus on community-driven, digital forms of escapism within the cottagecore subculture. This aesthetic, popularized on various social media platforms, romanticizes rural life and nature and carries stereotypical and often heteronormative Western ideals. Scherler critically examines how these norms are challenged and reshaped by subcultures seeking inclusivity, thus broadening the appeal of digital escapism through cottagecore.
Jennifer Merlyn Scherler (they/them) engages with a variety of media and formats, ranging from video to performance, and from photography to textual production. Their work interrogates internet cultures, gender, collective identity, self-image, and the structures of cultural dominance as reflected in social networks. Scherler is particularly fascinated by the resistance strategies of niche communities that uphold nonconformist values and identities. Drawing on extensive research, they have developed a unique visual language rich with references to popular digital culture, creating a fantasy world that resonates deeply with the online communities that inspire them.
curated by Ugo Pecoraio