The exhibition “filth” by Jenna Sutela and Pamela Rosenkranz examines completely different modes of notion, difficult the gaze as the first web site of understanding and as an alternative directing focus in the direction of different elements of reception, sensation, and notion. The artists deliver collectively human and more-than-human views, proposing that consciousness, intelligence and which means are usually not completely human properties, however can be present in different dwelling beings, ecosystems and applied sciences, reminiscent of microorganisms, crops, composts and synthetic neural networks.

On the heart of the exhibition is the dwelling set up Vermi Cell (2023) by Jenna Sutela, a compost of soil, seedlings, and earthworms that repeatedly evolves all through the exhibition interval, producing vitality for a sound system. The vitality is produced by electrons launched from the compost, flowing by way of conductive rods, whereas affecting the depth of sound within the area. In Vermi Cell, Sutela creates an setting that priorities the wants of the organisms inside the soil reasonably than the viewers. In truth, the processes occurring inside the compost are usually not visually discernible however might be perceived by way of sound, as facilitated by laptop processing. From an eco-materialist perspective, the work brings to focus symbiotic ecosystems together with micro organism, molds, worms, machines, and lots of different entities which are usually circuitously observable. On the intersection of dwelling and computational programs, Sutela finds an expansive world of interspecies relations.

Accompanying the set up are two works by Sutela that place the human physique as a web site of symbiotic relationships on the centre. Vitality Poem (2023) is an article printed on edible paper with edible ink, inviting the viewers not solely to expertise it visually and intellectually but additionally by way of the physique with all its microorganisms. The artist encourages the viewers to mirror on the technology, understanding, and sharing of data whereas prompting them to contemplate various types of notion and interplay. The {photograph} Many-Headed Studying (2016) reveals a close-up of Sutela’s open mouth and tongue on which the slime mould “Physarum polycephalum“ spreads. On the heart of the picture is the single-celled but “many-headed” organism referred to as a pure laptop. Within the unique efficiency, Sutela connects with the slime mould by putting it on her tongue and finally swallowing it, letting its hive-like behaviour “programme” her personal. Such an intimate gesture of ingestion and internalisation highlights Sutela’s curiosity in transcending conventional boundaries of consciousness and information.

Pamela Rosenkranz’s works enter right into a dialogue with Sutela’s, negotiating the thought of “nature” by reflecting on the human view of it. Rosenkranz‘s collection I Want I May Cry Blood (2021) locations the human eye on the centre of notion to mirror on viewing habits and their evolution. She utilises excerpts from present inventory images of eyes, which she positions centrally inside the slim image body and overlays with pink acrylic paint. The emblem of the inventory platform runs diagonally and fragmentarily throughout the picture as copyright safety, thus revealing its business supply. This appropriation additionally addresses the affect of digital picture distribution on viewing habits. In reference to the sensory organ, the pigment dripping down the floor might be related to bodily fluids. This creates an ambivalence between the symbolic which means of the attention as a web site of data and the precise bodily notion, which takes place multi-sensorially inside the physique, involving quite a few unconscious biochemical processes.

The collection Anamazon (2021) explores the overlap between the notion of nature photos and digital picture manufacturing. Rosenkranz additionally utilises inventory images of rainforest landscapes on this collection, highlighting the hole between untouched nature and its business exploitation by way of digital media. By overlaying these universally accessible, standardised archive photos of the rainforest with daring layers of pink acrylic paint, she evokes associations with the human physique and its fluids, deliberately blurring the boundaries between the pure and the bogus. The collection thus displays a central engagement with humanity‘s alienation from nature and highlights the function expertise performs in mediating and commodifying photos of nature.

One other collection Healer Scrolls (2023/2024) displays the intersection of nature and expertise. Rosenkranz makes exact cuts within the paper to create patterns harking back to snake scales. Rosenkranz explores the symbolism of the snake, which has lengthy been culturally rooted, transferring its archetypal imagery onto paper. Recognized for its twin nature, the snake symbolises the skinny line between life and dying. Impressed by this layer of which means in addition to the evolutionary transition from aquatic to terrestrial life, Healer Scrolls level to the emergence of latest types of existence. The fluid swimming motions advanced into the slithering motion of land animals enabled by the scaly physique. On this method, the collection references the evolution of dwelling organisms whereas concurrently marking a technological growth located between historic craftsmanship and machine manufacturing.

Each Pamela Rosenkranz and Jenna Sutela intention to dissolve the boundary between the natural and the artificial. Moreover, their work questions the phantasm that the whole lot can or ought to at all times be available to us. The exhibition “filth” thus invitations a wide selection of contributors and views to play. The setting stays as open as an exhibition area might be.

at max goelitz, Munich
till October 5, 2024