curated by Maria Arusoo

WINTER IS COMING (Homage to the Future)

Andreas Angelidakis | Merike Estna | Michael Gumhold | Joey Holder | Kolbeinn Hugi | Kris Lemsalu | Jaakko Pallasvuo | Natasha Papadopoulou | Angelo Plessas | Agnieszka Polska | Triin Tamm

curated by Maria Arusoo

Opening
8 September 2016, 6–9pm

“After the Summer of the Greek humiliation, came
the Autumn of rejected migration, then the Winter
of European disintegration, before at last the Spring
of Donald Trump.”* Franco Bifo Berardi

We are living in a dystopian present in which things are now so fetid that it is no longer possible to look away from the current crises and growth in xenophobia. The great and empowering promise of ‘the future’ is dissolving, and we are being forced to alter our belief systems repeatedly within condensed frames of time.

In our neo-liberal society — where with each step you take you are forced into individualism and self-management, and are overtaken by the contemporary drive for acceleration — we are experiencing a generational loss of knowledge about what it means to be part of a community with shared goals.

In the exhibition WINTER IS COMING (Homage to the Future) at Georg Kargl Fine Arts, loss is a recurring theme, and forms the basis for a dialogue around subjects including the collapse of systems, nomadic experiences, myths, belonging and meaning. A number of the participating artists work in search of alternative subsystems and meta-languages, where Net, bio-technology or ancient myths are used as mediums through which to explore humankind's place in the world. The works playing with ancient myths and current meltdowns create a psychogeography of bio-futuristic and techno-animist settings, partly observing situations in the distance and partly attempting to reimagine ways of reconnecting with each other—a search for a meaningful ecosystem.

The exhibition is presented as a rhizomatic platform whose range covers a number of territorial oppositions: the expanded environment of the internet and the offline sphere; new technologies and the concerns of ancient humans; political awareness and escape; dystopia and utopia. The exhibition is intended as a complex entity, and brings these works together in aim of expanding thought on the limits of togetherness, connectivity and the potentials for adopting invented communities.

Text:
Maria Arusoo (*1983 in Tallinn) is an artistcurator currently working as the Director of the Center for Contemporary Arts Estonia and the Commissioner of the Estonian Pavilion at Venice Biennial.

The exhibition takes place in the context of the gallery festival curated by_vienna: Meine Herkunft habe ich mir selbst ausgedacht  [My Origins? I Made Them Up]. The theoretical starting point for the participating galleries and curators is provided through the eponymous essay by cultural theorist and author Diedrich Diederichsen. With the project curated by_vienna, the Vienna Business Agency and its creative center departure have been supporting cooperation between Viennese galleries for contemporary art and international curators since 2009.