Ive got the world in my pocket

Line Finderup Jensen, Marcel Hiller, Gabi Dziuba, Lion Mayer

June 2022, physical exhibition at ZIRKA, Munich

Curated by Luise Arndt

What if there was no longer a clear separation between fiction and reality? Immersion is a key phenomenon of our time. Not only in the entertainment industry, but also in art it became an important component in the course of digitalization and shapes the essence of contemporary exhibition culture. The multimedia group show 'I've got the world in my pocket’ deals with the impact of fiction and imagination on reality. The exhibition format is understood as a collage of diverse artistic positions that refer to the subject in divergent ways, interact with each other and thus open up new approaches.

The interactive video work 'Vernissage For Beginners' by Danish media artist Line Finderup Jensen simulates a real experienced exhibition opening and transfers it into the virtual space. In the ego perspective, the player explores a spectacular vernissage, which gives the viewer an insight into the diverse forms of expression of contemporary art. Our player can choose between four different game modes (red wine glass, white wine glass, beer bottle and banknotes) in order to react to the artworks, the audience present and the artists within the video game. The artist works with means of exaggeration and fiction to potentiate the effects of distortion on the recipients. A novelty of her working method and artistic presentation in this exhibition are the exclusively presented in-game paintings, taken from her digital work 'Vernissage For Beginners'. For the first time they give the opportunity to experience the physical state of the new media artists' visuality. Out of these autonomous artworks emerge which break with classical habits of seeing and stand for a progressive aesthetic program.
Another contribution to the group show are the screenshot paintings from the artist Lion Mayer. In his works he transforms the schematic fragments of the digital language into analog canvas. The composition is digitally modified and then translated to a manually created painting. This transformation process addresses questions of aesthetics and form with reference to the visual and technical possibilities of both the analog and the digital. The synthesis of both spheres gives the paintings an extraordinary aura.
The virtual space 'Der Himmelblaue Speck' by conceptual artist Marcel Hiller is a digital exhibition and can be visited on the CALDO website: caldo-worldwide.com. In this work Hiller processes the novel by Vladimir Sorokin. The virtual space is interactive and freely accessible. Also here Hiller remains true to his unique installations of space, which experience an exciting transfer into digitality in view of the technical design possibilities. "I've got the world in my pocket" presents the digital artwork together with the 3D print object "SPECK (my wallet)" which is published as an accompanying physical edition.
Jewelry artist Gabi Dziuba stands for a design concept that combines contemporary subjects and high-quality materials, elevating them to wearable art objects. The CALDO edition “WIE GEHT’S?” “GUT, UND DIR?” comprised of a handmade silver bracelet and conceptually addresses the ambiguity of an omnipresent expression, which is positioned somewhere between a platitude and an icebreaker.  

Text by Luise Arndt

Line Finderup Jensen, „Vernissage for Beginners“, interactive video, stills

Installation view

From left: LINE FINDERUP JENSEN, "Vernissage for Beginners_1-3", alu-dibond, 80x60 cm, 2022 — LION MAYER, „Broken Mirror 2“, „Broken Mirror 3“, acryl on canvas, 80x60cm, 2022

Below on the right: LION MAYER, "Super Glue", acryl on canvas, 90x110cm, 2022