Without Firm Ground – Vilém Flusser and the Arts

“Ins Universum der technischen Bilder” or “Lob der Oberflächlichkeit“ – with such programmatic titles Vilém Flusser (1920–1991) advanced to become one of the most influential thinkers to deal with communication and media in the 20th century. Flusser vigorously accepted the challenge to rethink the arts in face of the fact that our existence is essentially determined by technology. After fleeing from the Nazis, his exile from his native Prague took him to England and then Brazil. Later, he lived for many years in Italy, Switzerland and in France. This exhibition invites visitors to imagine the stages of Vilém Flusser’s nomadic life as a model of the force of the connections we call the twentieth century.

Artists
Danièle Akmen, Edmar de Almeida, Louis Bec, Michael Bielicky, Gabriel Borba, Jürgen Claus, Otávio Donasci, Harun Farocki, Peter Fischli/David Weiss, Alex Flemming, Samson Flexor, Joan Fontcuberta, Fred Forest, Herbert W. Franke, Cyriak Harris, Andreas Henrich, Fons Hickmann, Dieter Jung, Dietmar Kamper,  Knowbotic Research, Jörg Lindenmaier, Thilo Mechau, Marcello Mercado, Achim Mohné/Uta Kopp, Andreas Müller-Pohle, Anthony Moore, Mouse on Mars, Matthias Müller, Solomon Nikritin, Nam June Paik, Brothers Quay, Mario Ramiro, Mira Schendel, Lisa Schmitz, Peter Simon, Ed Sommer,  Wolfgang Spahn, Peter Weibel, Niobe Xandó, Pinar Yoldas

Before the opening, on 18 November at 5 pm, there will be a prelude with Anthony Moore as well as a panel discussion with Baruch Gottlieb, Daniel Irrgang and Siegfried Zielinski in dialogue with artists.

Curated by Siegfried Zielinski and Baruch Gottlieb, with Peter Weibel. A cooperation with the ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, funded by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation).