DIGITAL TRADITIONS - HOW MUCH OLD IS IN NEW?

The exhibition took place in Szczecin, Poland, October 23 – November 30, 2015

The exhibition re_manufact refers to the past, present and future of technological solutions and their connections. It also describes the direct relations influencing contemporary art as well as - in a broader aspect - the cultural life of societies.

The processing of established entities creates new re_manufact alues and predictions, different perspectives on mundane existence. It tells the story of the fall of the Old and the rise of the New.

Manufacturing describes the transition between two areas of production. In the past, between the middle age handicraft and the industrial fabrication. Today, between the mass production of cheap goods for the many and the individualized expensive production of luxury items for the few.

New technologies are developing rapidly, as is the world we live in. The artwork of the selected artists for re_manufact deal with constant change. They raise the question of where to find the Old in our daily life and what role the Old plays in creating the New. The exhibition presents a broad range of analog and digital technologies. Different innovative and playful forms of recordings, transmissions and reproductions reflect the multimodal development and critical debate on change and tradition. The results presented are creative and a new level of expression. They are also pictured experiences and social relationships between the artwork, the artists, the environment and the audience. Living in an industrialized world, people have begun to recover old materials and rediscover forgotten forms of production, to reshape the tenor of our values. This is reflected for example in the movement of self-sufficient production of honey (urban bee keeping), food (urban gardening) or knitting around public goods (guerilla knitting). Traditional and sustainable materials as well as their production methods return to public awareness; a development unimaginable ten years ago.

The exhibition examines these matters in media art: it offers a glimpse of past, current and upcoming industrial revolutions and their cultural impact on society and contemporary art. From artisanry to industry, from wood to metal, from the internet to your table. It shows ways to reuse old goods, content, artistic output and leaves room for interpretation. If something seems important to the individual it may be taken and integrated in his or her subjective reality, just like cultural cannibalism. Once in a while the reuse of materials, designs, content and artistic output can be understood as a process of up-cycling rather than re-cycling. The visitor is invited to be a cannibal himself, sucking-up inspiration and integrating Digital Traditions into his world. While the city of Szczecin is constantly changing and developing a new face and image, the exhibition glances on the basic outcome of that process.

re_manufact projects:

Curation together with Regina Tetens. More information here.