Artist: Jesse Darling, Mia Goyette, Lito Kattou, Shaun Motsi, Johannes Paul Raether, Jenna Sutela, Bruno Zhu
Exhibition title: District 17
Curated by: Gabriela Acha, Sarah Johanna Theurer and Catherine Wang
Venue: Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin, Germany
Date: January 20 – February 23, 2018
Photography: def_image, all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin
In Neo-Tokyo’s District 17, raging cyberpunk bikers dissolve their hopeless subjectivities in the increasing speed and violence of their motorbikes. In the animation Akira, the city’s crumbling infrastructure is inhabited by orphaned lives. Ceaseless protests take over the streets, while governmental dodges are performed in the shadow. This is the site of encounter of the protagonist’s gang and Takashi – a childlike figure with turquoise skin. Generated by government-operated chemical experiments, Takashi’s psychic power spreads like a virus, mutates its host and grows out of control, unleashing questions about social formations and their agency.
Reminiscent of this seminal encounter, in District 17, objects of different nature intersect in the exhibition space. Amorphous bodies, assembled from fragments of civilisational objects sit alongside skin-tight forms, empty shells remaining from a happening. Pipes creep along the walls – one cannot know whether they carry fuel or secretions. What one knows for sure is that some form of life lies in these structures. Next door, an abandoned arena made of cellulose awaits other encounters still to come.
As the post-urban architectures of District 17 are navigated with motorbikes, the organizational and spiritual mazes in the exhibition are traversed by many-headed, pluralistic organisms. District 17 is the scenario of encounters for collective bodies yet to be shaped.
District 17, 2018, exhibition view, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin
Mia Goyette, Fluid Conveyance, 2017, aluminium pipes, oxidized copper hardware, salt, copper-coated plaster, dimensions variable
Johannes Paul Raether, Transformalor [Transformella malor ikeae] 4.4.6.6, Cave/Cage/Office Hours, 2018, white hygienic paper (zewa); Wächterin (I), 2010 – 2018, recombination of dissected buggies, 240 x 90 x 15 cm; 12. Wächterin (II), 2010 – 2018, recombination of dissected buggies, 290 x 55 x 15 cm; Kommunisate: cryotube containing hair, nail, spit of Repro TechnoTribe 4.4.5 (Kassel, 2015) and 4.4.6 (Berlin, 2015)
Johannes Paul Raether, Kommunisate: cryotube containing hair, nail, spit of Repro TechnoTribe 4.4.5 (Kassel, 2015) and 4.4.6 (Berlin, 2015)
Mia Goyette, Fluid Conveyance, 2017, aluminium pipes, oxidized copper hardware, salt, copper-coated plaster, dimensions variable
Jesse Darling, Uh, Oh She’s a tourist, 2017, welded steel, cast silicone, silk ribbon, 87 x 85 x 40 cm
Jesse Darling, Slump Priest, 2017, steel, paper, on PVC, latex glove, clay, foam, jesmonite, on aluminium, 190 x 120 x 190 cm
Bruno Zhu, FALLING STARS SERIES, 2018, Fabian hugged Jessica; Isabell hugged Jessica; leo hugged Jessica digital print on matte paper, wrapping paper, aluminium foil, chicken wire, dimensions variable
Shaun Motsi, Sfx Monochrome (Black), 2017, oil on wood, 60 x 40 x 2 cm (4 panels)
District 17, 2018, exhibition view, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin
District 17, 2018, exhibition view, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin
District 17, 2018, exhibition view, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin
District 17, 2018, exhibition view, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin