BIORAMA-Projekt presents
‘Matter to Matter’. A Campaign-Exhibited:
- September 2021 – 31. October 2021
Artists: Inga Aleknavičiūtė and Mindaugas Gapševičius & Maria Safronova Wahlström
Location: Weisse Villa, BIORAMA-Projekt, Am Wasserturm 1, 16247 Joachimsthal, UNESCO Biosphere Shorfheide-Chorin, Brandenburg, Germany.
Opening 4. September: We cordially invite you to the participatory event of the exhibition Matter to Matter on September 4th and October 2nd, 2021 at 3:00 pm.
Conventionally perceived as an exhibition, ‘Matter to Matter’ is more of a ‘Campaign of Reprise’ by artists Inga Aleknavičiūtė and Mindaugas Gapševičius & Maria Safronova Wahlström. Their mission is to sharpen human sensory perception to heighten consideration of our impact on the material world. This ‘campaign’ has arisen in response to the issue that humans increasingly shape their world for reasons of desire and pleasure as much as the need for survival and comfort. As the pace of existence accelerates the exponentially expanding pandoras box of ‘discoveries’ can never deliver enough novelty to satisfy our needs in spite of using up resources at an alarming and unsustainable rate.
In response, Aleknavičiūtė and Gapševičius understand that we are simply a component of this world, which is a continuum of energy and matter. How we read, interpret and create our world is key to improving the human condition and our biological home. In doing this they are asking simple questions:- Firstly, must we continue to be superficial creatures looking for the next material trick or are we ready to dive deeper? Secondly, to address this problem are we humans ready to look inward into the grey matter of our biological selves as well as to truly explore the depths of all matter before us?
The artists are part of a new wave of creative thinking that generates perceptive and material solutions with social and ecological ‘balance’ at their core. In chorus with a rising minority in society they demand answers, real world solutions and methods that go beyond the protected world of socio-political theories and oceans of well-meaning documents.
Aleknavičiūtė and Gapševičius have disregarded synthetic Sims type virtual world solutions to deliver tangible prototypes that present an energised and balanced future, rich in invention and in harmony with the sensual world. With these prototypes they propose to open new channels by which we can perceive and understand our environment. Their solutions are derived from hidden resources, partly biological and in part material. They suggest that we must mine ourselves as well as all of our industrialised systems to progress beyond the current solutions we know.
You and I, You and Me by Mindaugas Gapševičius & Maria Safronova Wahlström in collaboration with jewellery designer Helga Mogensen and shoe designer Leon Crayfish
The ‘Digital Wearables/Exhibits’ created by Mindaugas Gapševičius and partners allows the user to ‘super-conduct’ sensory information to the brain by tapping into the hidden lines of communication lying in and around our bodies as a means to revalue the physical world around us.
You and I, You and Me questions about the perception of the environment through electricity. The project has interactive and hybrid wearable objects, which invite the audience to experience and explore the environment, other phenomena, and the self. For example, how far could electricity help in understanding other phenomena? Is there a possibility to alter human senses by electric impulses?
The participatory event during the opening reception will take us to the future scenario, where humans, computing machines, and various hybrids share the space they inhabit. In this environment senses are altered, and some have inextricable linkage to computing devices. In this narrative, humans take responsibility to reshape social ties to avoid being controlled by corporations and machines. A further event is planned for the beginning of October 2021.
Further contributions: Sarah Phillips and Richard Hurding (mediators), Tuçe Erel (curator), Rita Valiukonytė (inspiration), Veiko Liis (furniture design), Robert Piel (Advisor), Ian Erik Stewart (neuroscience consultant); Helga Mogensen (jewelry); Leon Crayfish (shoe design); Mindaugas Miselis and Alexander Selifonov (electronics); Bon Alog (video); Antanas Skučas (programing); Antanas Gerlikas (stands), Živilė Etevičiūtė, Tadas Šarūnas, Johanna Glaza (models); and others.
The project is kindly supported by Lithuanian Council for Culture, Nordic council of Ministers, Zelfo Technology GmbH, Leipa, Lithuanian Culture Institute.
The project is organized by Institutio Media in collaboration with BIORAMA-Projekt and TOP association for the Promotion of Cultural Practice in Berlin.
Visuals: Taktika Studio