On display in the exhibition hall of the Kunsthochschule Kassel until May 31.
What does it feel like when reality is no longer tangible? When pop music becomes gray noise, landscapes mutate into dreaming creatures and an avatar seems to know us better than we know ourselves? The exhibition "FLUID"in the exhibition hall of the Kunsthochschule Kassel is more than just a classic show - it is an intense, visually powerful field of experimentation at the interface of art, design, media and artificial intelligence.
On display are over twenty works by up-and-coming artists, designers and composers, students and teachers from several renowned art academies in Hesse: the Kunsthochschule Kassel, the Städelschule Frankfurt, the HfG Offenbach, the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt and guests from the international art scene, such as the Crosslucid collective and Michael Wallinger. The show was curated by Prof. Joel Baumann, Eleonora Dieterichs and Prof. Oliver Vogt, together with colleagues from the participating universities.
An exhibition title as a program: "FLUID " - meaning fluid transitions between disciplines and media, between physical sculpture and algorithmic sound, between pop culture and political analysis. The works presented are not static - they move, they challenge, they can be heard, played and walked through.
The themes of the works are highly topical: at a time when artificial intelligence is no longer just a tool but is increasingly becoming a co-author , hybrid realities are emerging that renegotiate our relationship to identity, memory and truth. The exhibition hints at an age that can be described as the "Algocene " - the age of the algorithm.
From rhythmically flickering projectors to research setups and pop stars emerging from the AI retort...
The exhibition invites visitors on a journey through speculative natural histories (Annkathrin Kluss), algorithmically generated pop music - such as the album by Hypergray, released especially for the exhibition - as well as politically charged re-enactments (Guy Ronen) and media-theoretical analyses of the digital present, as presented by Michael Wallinger's collective. His installation Iterative Body Synthesis reveals how algorithmic systems shape body images. The work reveals the mechanisms that usually remain invisible in social media - and transforms the Instagram black box into a performative hall of mirrors of digital body politics.
The media spectrum of the exhibition ranges from experimental film to AI-generated objects, interactive games and sculptural works to the paper tube organ developed at the HfMDK Frankfurt - an acoustic instrument made of cardboard tubes that combines digital precision with organic sound. On May 31 at 5 p.m., the sound class of Prof. Mario de Vega from the Kunsthochschule Kassel and composition students from the HfMDK Frankfurt will present the results of a workshop with the paper tube organ in a joint performance.
"The artists create their works at the same eye level.ölevel with the AI, creating a post-anthropocentric creativity in the truest sense of the word"Merzmensch (Vladimir Alexeev), AI Art, Verlag Klaus Wagenbach, Berlin 2023, p. 63
More than Ästhetics: spaces as thinking machines
FLUID thus offers a powerful setting for television crews and photo editors: moving installations, spectacular video works, 3D-printed objects, screens planted in heaps of earth and immersive sound works. Each work traces the breaking points of our digital present - between dissolution of boundaries, loss and creative self-empowerment.
"FLUID" is the result of a two-year cross-university collaboration, funded by the Ministry of Science and the Arts as part of the "Digital Perspectives in Art" program.
"FLUID" creates experiential spaces in which visitors not only have to observe, but also locate themselves - between image and mirror image, between algorithm and imagination. The works have a lasting effect because they do not claim to be unambiguous, but convey a sense of the ambivalence of our time: They tell of dissolution and reshaping, of technical possibilities and their social shadows.
"FLUID" can be seen in the exhibition hall of the Kunsthochschule Kassel until May 31, 2025.
Opening hours: Tue-Thu 1pm-7pm, Sat-Sun 1pm-7pm
Performance: On May 31 at 5pm, the sound class of Prof. Mario de Vega from the Kunsthochschule Kassel and composition students from the HfMDK Frankfurt will present the results of a workshop with the paper pipe organ.
Venue: Exhibition hall of the Kunsthochschule Kassel, Menzelstraße 13-15
Free admission
Guided tours through the exhibitions: www.eventbrite.de
Press contact: Çiğdem Özdemir, presse[at]kunsthochschulekassel.de
Digital catalog of the exhibition: kunsthochschulekassel.de
Further information: www.kunsthochschulekassel.de