Curated by: Thomas Zitzwitz
Artists: Elger Esser, Hervé Garcia, Gregor Hildebrandt, Robert Kraiss, Alicja Kwade, Daniel Lergon, Andreas Plum, Thomas Zitzwitz
It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.
R.E.M.
“Time + space aren’t warping at all, promise”. Juliana McCarthy made this (ironic) promise to her followers on Instagram when the COVID-19 pandemic kept the world in suspense and doomsday scenarios were doing the rounds again. And she would know – as McCarthy is not only an astrologer but also an expert on the ethereal world, namely that upper region of the sky to which our souls ascend (according to orphics) when we die, while our bodies sink into the earth. This is where Aether, god of light, rules. And this is where the gods sit and watch over our fate.
In the past, when people went to church, they could still sense some of this religious magic, because the large domes were built in such a way as to draw the attention of the faithful – for instance by the design of their lighting – forwards and upwards (to the altar and to God), while they allowed their bodies on earth to sink into the ground. Today, this has (almost) all become pure pop culture; however, the virtual realities continue to function on the same principle.
Therefore, it seems only logical that orphic singers, such as McCarthy, no longer stand in a field with their lyre, but operate on the Internet – especially since the doomsday scenarios have also long become part of pop culture – and have transformed their solemnity into a fun game.
When the Mediations Biennale Polska gives itself the title Events’ Horizon and Thomas Zitzwitz presents the section curated by him under the auspices of McCarthy’s promise, they are both drawing on this light-hearted correlation of prophecy and pop culture.
Everything earthly descends while we ascend into the bright regions of the light.
The artistic works selected by Zitzwitz honour the orphic promise by concentrating on forms and surfaces, on materials and how they metamorphose, and on radiance, colour and texture. As a result, meanings are manifested through the effect of the form or surface.(Björn Vedder)
