Inke Arns

The film works of Silke Schönfeld (*1988) oscillate between installation, staged settings, and documentary. She engages with social media and the omnipresent flood of images: in this context, the artist highlights ambiguities, questions the authenticity of moving images, and thus situates the viewers in a vague space between staged and documented film. Schönfeld is especially interested in places and situations so ordinary that we don’t (or no longer) notice them – places we pass by without a second thought. These initially inconspicuous locations and situations serve as launch pads for the artist to reflect on larger, socially relevant topics. Schönfeld skillfully interweaves personal stories with historical and societal contexts, subtly directing attention to social phenomena, rituals, ideologies, and processes. The publication is being issued on occasion of the eponymous solo exhibition at the HMKV Dortmund and showcases five large-scale video installations. Numerous photo spreads and introductory texts are accompanied by a detailed interview with the artist.

This volume is published to mark the 40th anniversary of the artists’ collective Rrose Irwin Sélavy and to accompany the exhibition at HMKV Dortmund. Since 1983, IRWIN has been investigating the art history of Eastern Europe, especially the ambivalent legacy of the historical avant-garde and its totalitarian successors, i.e. the dialectic of avant-garde and totalitarianism. Since the 1990s, the focus of the group has been on challenging the art history of “Western Modernism” in a critical and iconoclastic way. The artists playfully and darkly contrast it with the “retro avant-garde” and an “Eastern Modernism”. The book, which can be read from both sides, is made up of two parts: the first chapter explores the black humour that is a consistent element in IRWIN’s work. The second chapter examines issues relating to the state – and how IRWIN uses them to comment on current topics such as migration. Text in English and German.

This catalogue for a show at HMKV Dortmund explores techno-shamanism in the arts today, taking Joseph Beuys, who cultivated the figure of the shaman throughout his career, as the starting point. In addition to viewing shamanism itself as a form of technology, this artistic approach uses (speculative) technology as a way of discovering shamanic powers. Contemporary artists are updating Beuys’s strategies and themes for the digital age, deploying many of the same tropes. These acquired iconic status in Beuys’s oeuvre, and were aimed at healing and transforming society, cultivating a spiritual approach to the environment, and subverting power structures and the logic of capitalism. The positions introduced here combine aspects that appear diametrically opposed: technology and shamanism, technical progress and esotericism, rational modernism and the mystical tradition. Today’s artistic alchemists are engaged in a quest for “rare-earth elements” and metals, a fusion of the environment, technology, and artificial intelligence in order to create a technical/mythological description of the cosmos. Included here are works by: Morehshin Allahyari, Joseph Beuys, Mariechen Danz, Anja Dornieden & Juan David González Monroy, Lucile Olympe Haute, knowbotiq, Sahej Rahal, Tabita Rezaire, Jana Kerima Stolzer & Lex Rütten, Transformella (aLifveForm fed and cared for by JP Raether), Suzanne Treister, Anton Vidokle. Text in English and German.

Based on the art project of the Mallinckrodtstraße workshop on Romani building culture of the same name and the redesign of a building façade in the Nordstadt district of Dortmund in September 2019, this publication focuses on a special form of architecture that has arisen in Romania, among other places, in the last 30 years which is characterised by expressive façade designs. Text in English, German and Romanian.

This book focuses on right-wing populist movements that are heavily reliant on the Internet and social media to spread their ideas. It explores the emergence of a (sub)culture of transgression in online forums such as 4chan and on platforms such as Breitbart News. The artists featured in this volume address Internet phenomena such as memes (e.g., Pepe the Frog, probably the most well-known symbol of Trump supporters), figures such as Steve Bannon, flag worship, the prepper scene, white supremacists, and Dark Enlightenment. The catalogue includes a comprehensive introduction to the issue, an interview with the science writer Angela Nagle, entries on all of the works, a critical glossary, and a list of links to relevant online resources. Text in English and German.

Every month, the art association HMKV presents the latest videos by international artists in its series “HMKV Video of the Month” which has been ongoing since March 2014. The idea for the series came from the desire to show the newest artistic productions in rapid succession, changing works at a faster pace than in the exhibitions of the HMKV. For the first time, this publication unites all 78 works that have been exhibited since 2014. The videos address a variety of different topics and stories, ranging from labour conditions, structural changes, speculative technologies, or posthuman machines to technology (and its history) as well as artificial intelligence. A wide array of works is devoted to the old ‘new’ right-wingers and the alt-right. The book not only shows stills of all videos, but each work is also accompanied by an introductory text to provide a comprehensive overview. Text in English and German.

Originally published in 2009, this book collects the work made between 1999 and 2009 by Austrian duo UBERMORGEN (lizvlx and Hans Bernhard). Along that decade, UBERMORGEN developed a consistent oeuvre, focused on the ability of media to infiltrate reality to the point of completely altering the perception of it or even its social, biological or human infrastructure; and on the potential of art to engage a dialogue with economic, bureaucratic and informational systems. All these works are presented extensively through pictures and introductory texts, and discussed in depth in two essays by Domenico Quaranta and Dr. Inke Arns. The book also features a visual tribute by artists JODI.ORG. UBERMORGEN have exhibited in museums and galleries internationally since 1999, including HKW, Berlin; MUMOK, Vienna; MACBA, Barcelona; Ars Electronica, Linz; SFMOMA, San Francisco; Witte de With, Rotterdam; Centre Pompidou, Paris; New Museum, New York; Sydney and Gwangju biennales.

Every month, the art association HMKV presents the latest videos by international artists in its series “HMKV Video of the Month” which has been ongoing since March 2014. The idea for the series came from the desire to show the newest artistic productions in rapid succession, changing works at a faster pace than in the exhibitions of the HMKV. For the first time, this publication unites all 78 works that have been exhibited since 2014. The videos address a variety of different topics and stories, ranging from labour conditions, structural changes, speculative technologies, or posthuman machines to technology (and its history) as well as artificial intelligence. A wide array of works is devoted to the old ‘new’ right-wingers and the alt-right. The book not only shows stills of all videos, but each work is also accompanied by an introductory text to provide a comprehensive overview. Text in English and German.

The iconography of contemporary media: three series by German artist Yvon Chabrowski German photographer and conceptual artist Yvon Chabrowski (born 1978), based in Berlin and Leipzig, analyzes visual formulas of contemporary media, which she decontextualizes, revealing their underlying mechanisms and manipulation strategies. This publication presents three series of works from the last decade.