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until 15.02. | #4567 ARTatBerlin | Galerie alexander levy shows from the 17th. January 2025 the group exhibition “Kin Is Not Kind” by the artists Julius von Bismarck, Ximena Garrido-Lecca, Ayesha Hameed, Anne Duk Hee Jordan, Berenice Olmedo, Meret Oppenheim and Simon Speiser.
The exhibition “Kin is Not Kind” explores the connections between humans and non-humans, focussing on the interactions of bodies, technology and nature. It illuminates how historical experiences and memories, shaped by colonialism and the exploitation of people and the environment, influence our understanding of identity, ecology and coexistence. The works in the exhibition deal with the construction of kinship and its effects.
In her works, artist Ximena Garrido-Lecca examines the ecological, social and cultural consequences of the exploitation of natural resources, with a particular interest in how technologisation and urbanisation have historically influenced the relationship between nature and people. A recurring theme in Garrido-Lecca’s work is the impact of copper mining in Peru’s rural regions. The extractive practices of colonialism and their ongoing presence not only leave behind destroyed landscapes, but also have serious health consequences for local communities, while investors and consumers continue to come predominantly from the global North.
The use of copper in the work “Signal Restorations: Air, Flame, Rain and Soil Sensors” refers to the central importance of the metal for the technical innovations of modernity, which stands in contrast to the ritual and spiritual uses of the material in indigenous Andean societies. The relationship with nature in pre-Hispanic cultures is based on a concept of reciprocity: if we take something from nature, it is given back through sacrificial offerings or rituals. The work is reminiscent of an exchange cabinet from a 20th century telephone exchange, in which natural elements such as stones, copal and earth are connected instead of cables and electrical connections. The title refers to the four elements of earth, water, air and fire, whose balance is restored in the work. Garrido-Lecca questions patriarchal narratives and the dominance of Western science, which often devalues and excludes alternative forms of knowledge.
In her works, artist Berenice Olmedo addresses social norms of bodies and the human endeavour to create and comply with standards of all kinds. Through the use of prostheses and medical materials, she questions notions of wholeness and perfection. Her work examines the rigidity of body forms that have emerged in the wake of colonial, patriarchal object-subject structures and proposes alternative horizons that reject these expressions of power and their normative forms of destruction. The dissolution of boundaries is of great interest here: technical objects become fragile bodies, bodies become objects and devices. In her work “Canek”, Olmedo combines orthopaedic prostheses, suction valves for prostheses and other medical aids. She creates casts of various prostheses and fuses these fragments together. The chrome-plated holder that connects the mould to the wall appears sterile and clinical and stands in stark contrast to the curved shapes of the bodies.
The binary categories that serve to separate and decide who is considered a subject in the hierarchies of norms, beauty or completeness are thematised and renegotiated in her works. Berenice Olmedo thus proposes alternative ways of looking at fragmented identities and vulnerability as forms of strength and resistance.
Anne Duk Hee Jordan‘s works unfold post-anthropocene scenarios in which non-human beings take centre stage to reflect on the intersections of art, science, society and identity. Jordan examines the impact of technology on nature and questions how it shapes our relationship to the world, to other living beings and to each other. Upon entering the gallery, visitors encounter “Slippy Slimy Slug”, an installation of kinetic robot leaves, glass sculptures, bark mulch, tree trunks and branches. In the middle of this hybrid landscape of organic and artificial elements, glass slugs crawl, thematising the reproductive behaviour of these animals. Jordan questions Western, patriarchal norms of our understanding of sex and draws attention to the diversity and survival strategies of the non-human world. Snails, which have male and female reproductive organs and possess telepathic and electromagnetic abilities, become symbols of alternative forms of kinship and connection.
The installation invites us to experience life at a “snail’s pace”, to develop a sense of caring for one another and to understand our existence as part of a larger network of relationships. Jordan’s motorised leaf sculptures from the “Artificial Stupidity“ series counter the efficiency of modern technology with the concept of “artificial stupidity”, which sees unproductivity as an opportunity to re-evaluate our relationship to the world. With the Radicchio series of works, which use fashionable ingredients as symbols of monocultural agriculture, Jordan exposes our exploitative relationship to nature. Jordan’s installation looks at the interactions between humans, technology and nature, creating points of contact between different forms of life and kinship.
Julius von Bismarck‘s work is characterised by an intensive examination of perceptual phenomena and constructions of reality. The negotiation of nature as a socially constructed fiction is a central focus of his work. The photographs in the series “We Were All Naked”, taken in the biodiverse Madagascar, show landscapes that have been strangely altered by the artist’s intervention: Plants and soil are wrapped in plastic film and vacuum-sealed, cutting them off from vital air. The shiny surface of the film, which is stretched over nature like a spider’s web, lends the surroundings a sterile, eerie atmosphere. The context of the depopulated scene is barely discernible. The machine-milled aluminium frames of the photographs reinforce this impression by directing the viewer’s gaze to another world as if through a spaceship window. Embodying Donna Haraway’s cyborg manifesto, in this series von Bismarck confronts us with the fact that it is often impossible for non-human creatures to adapt quickly enough to the conditions of their environment, which is changing as a result of human technologisation. While humans can manipulate and isolate their environment, most non-human creatures are unable to do so.
In his artistic practice, Simon Speiser explores the relationship between nature, technology and fiction, creating new narrative spaces that interweave physical and digital worlds. He opens up imaginary cosmos that stage nature as a hybridised and constructed dimension. In his series about the world of Matuhi – man-made bird creatures – a narrative universe unfolds that reinterprets the idea of nature: as an artificially constructed concept that arises from memory and technological imagination. The VR work In a Young World of Resplendent Glitter is the 5th chapter of this narrative and describes a world in which the Matuhi are born into a reality dominated by technology without ever having experienced a natural environment.
Humanity exploits the telepathic abilities of birds as a communication network. In search of a place of refuge, the Matuhi create an imaginary forest – an idealised version of nature based on collected information about natural habitats. This vision of a hypothetical paradise in the past manifests itself as a parallel dimension in which nature is no longer a physical reality, but a product of technological longing. The work addresses the human tendency to idealise nature as a projection screen for inner peace and balance and draws subtle parallels to modern considerations of AI as a man-made system that could strive for autonomy or its own existence. The VR work is complemented by a woven tapestry that translates the digital aesthetics into analogue materials and thus adds a tactile level. The work thus refers to the visionary approaches of Ada Lovelace, who laid the foundations for computer technology.
Simon Speiser, Untitled, 2018 Woven cotton 135 x 180 cm; photo: Marcus Schneider
In the back room, we encounter the multi-part work “An Untalas of Coconut” by Ayesha Hameed, which was created during a research trip through Sri Lanka and India. In it, Hameed explores the multi-layered history of the coconut, which is seen as a witness to colonial exploitation and migration along the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The work shows how deeply interwoven stories and memories are inscribed in nature and culture. The installation consists of 67 square screen prints that visualise a fragmented narrative of the coconut in black and white. It begins with the tip of the palm tree, leads the viewer’s gaze along the trunk and ends with two nuts stacked on the ground. However, the visual sequence is repeatedly interrupted by gaps, creating a sense of incompleteness – a metaphor for lost stories and interrupted narratives. The work is complemented by text fragments that are positioned directly on the floor beneath the screen prints and tell a story of the coconut. The prints are reminiscent of colonial landscapes characterised by the circulation of resources and the exploitation of people and nature.
On the opposite wall Diana on the Magpie Hunt by Meret Oppenheim is presented. Oppenheim developed a holistic understanding of human existence by exploring the human subconscious and the transformative powers of nature. By devoting herself to the transience and vulnerability of life, the artist made the principle of metamorphosis a central artistic strategy. The changeability and transformation of her own identity enabled her to free herself from external fixation and social determination and instead connect with the natural transformation processes of the world.
Opening: Friday, 17. January 2025, 6 – 9 pm.
Exhibition dates: Friday, 17. January – Saturday, 15. February 2025
To the gallery
Title image caption: Anne Duk Hee Jordan, Slippy Slimy Slug, Blown glass with iridescent shine, 61 x 45,7 x 15,3 cm; photo: Marcus Schneider
Group exhibition Kin Is Not Kind – Galerie alexander levy | Contemporary Art – Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin – Ausstellungen Berlin Galerien – ART at Berlin
