Artists: Paul Fritz, Noemi Pfister, Christophe de Rohan Chabot, Virginie Sistek, Matthias Sohr, Baker Wardlaw
Exhibition title: Melting Point
Curated by: Valerie Keller, Matthias Liechti
Venue: For, Basel, Switzerland
Date: August 30 – October 12, 2024
Photography: ©Gina Folly / all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and For, Basel
I don‘t give a fuck. Developed in African-American resistance against an oppressive, white and propertied class, coolness was later adapted precisely by those who were thus addressed as aggressors: The European avant-garde practiced relaxed self-control in order to set itself apart from a mass society, that was driven by desires and needs to act in haste and hurry. Affected by such demotion, middle class representatives began as well to practice indifference in order to present the cooling of embarrassing passions – and thereby secure opportunities for social advancement. Today, cooling techniques manifest themselves in a wide range of milieus, including couch potatoes and aging American presidents, and for many seem to be an unavoidable strategy for coping with everyday life: As a pleasurable regulatory practice, it helps to relax from time to time, keeps cash coming in, keeps us in the green. The crises of the present can thus be met with indifference, promises that have not been kept can be soberly accepted and, now and again, egocentric complacency can be indulged. But it is precisely in the frosty distance of late capitalist relationships that a new form of coolness seems to be emerging – one that eventually reaches the melting point of individual cooling: It is forgiving, emotionally involved, vulnerable and calming at the same time. It is cute, keeps its distance with a laugh, acts in groups, and defies social absurdities and senseless concepts of life. #shitshow creates that kind of social proximity that has the potential to overturn the status quo. Even anger can be expressed with cute emojis. In this way, it seems possible to get heated and outraged together, to amuse and relieve each other while keeping a cool head at all times. Welcome!
