Nature \ nature

Opening: FR 07 06 2019, 6:30 pm

Performances during the opening
6:30 pm Thomas Geiger, Bust Talk with Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Raiffeisen
9:00 pm (at the opening) Anders Eiebakke, The Vienna Crow – A drone performance

Back to nature, digital detox & biophilia effect: Nature as a symbol for an unspoiled terrain and place of longing is currently undergoing a renaissance. For centuries nature has been postulated in opposition to culture—a dichotomy that is no longer sustainable today: New hybrid forms between organic/inorganic environments and technical artefacts render such a distinction obsolete. The exhibition Nature \ nature at the Kunstraum Niederoesterreich presents ten artistic positions, which deal with the future and the state of nature under the influence of our technology-fixated present. The show curated by Mirela Baciak invites the viewer to reflect upon the stability of prevailing concepts of nature because, as she puts it: “After all, nature is never merely natural; it is a human invention that is constantly in flux.”

As one of the so-called “escape characters”, the backslash (a reverse solidus) is used in computing as a typographical mark to indicate that what follows has another meaning and is to be treated differently. In the age of “digital natives”, in which we encounter nature via screens and new habitats emerge in mountains of trash, the apparently natural takes on new shapes. The exhibited works by local and international artists examine the ways in which technology crosses over to nature and—vice versa—how our biosphere and minds are increasingly informed by interaction with technical devices: How can nature and technology benefit from each other?

Artists: Agency of Singular Investigations, Anders Eiebakke, Thomas Geiger, Nicholas Hoffman, Daria Irincheeva, Diana Lelonek, Flaviu Rogojan, Omer Wasim & Saira Sheikh, Hui Ye, Julia Znoj

Curated by: Mirela Baciak

Duration: SA 08 06 – SA 27 07 2019

Further information about the exhibition you will find here.

We would like to thank the Hil Foundation, MA 57 – Promotion and Co-ordination of Women’s Issues, OCA Norway and the Adam Mickiewicza Institute for supporting our exhibition and the accompanying programme.