Matter, Non-Matter, Anti-Matter at ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe

Matter, Non-Matter, Anti-Matter investigates the significance of digitality and computer-generated settings in the context of the material understanding and presentation of art production. The exhibition provides insight into the implications for contemporary curatorial and artistic practices, including their mediation, that arise from the assumption that the digital comprises a material layer through deep engagement with two previous landmark exhibitions and their philosophical foundations.

Based on Les Immatériaux (Centre Pompidou, 1985) and Iconoclash case studies. Beyond the Image Wars in Science, Religion, and Art (ZKM, 2002), as well as the Beyond Matter practice-based research and international collaboration project. Cultural Heritage on the Verge of Virtual Reality (2019-23), two art institutions—ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe and the Centre Pompidou in Paris—have committed to investigating the prospect of exhibition resuscitation through immersive digital and spatial modeling technologies.

Matter, Non-Matter, Anti-Matter displays digital representations of the aforementioned previous exhibitions on the newly built “Immaterial Display,” a gadget designed specifically for virtual exhibition exploration. The models will be available online in conjunction with the exhibition’s opening. Furthermore, a selection of artworks and artifacts, primarily from the Centre Pompidou and ZKM | Karlsruhe collections, many of which were featured in Les Immatériaux and Iconoclash, witness to the conceptual dematerialization and digital re-materialization of artworks. Examples of digital curatorial and exhibition reconstruction approaches used in Beyond Matter provide a broader and more current perspective on the subject.

Matter, Non-Matter, Anti-Matter features artworks by: Josef Albers, Giovanni Anselmo, Arman, Art & Language, Fiona Banner, Samuel Bianchini, Jean-Louis Boissier & Liliane Terrier, John Cage, Jacques-Élie Chabert & Camille Philibert, Marcel Duchamp, Eric J. Heller, Michel Jaffrennou, Martin Kippenberger, Maria Klonaris & Katerina Thomadaki, Denis Laborde, Mark Lewis & Laura Mulvey, Kasimir Malevich, Pietro Manzoni, Gordon Matta-Clark, Roman Opalka, Nam June Paik, Readymades belong to everyone®, Jeffrey Shaw, Annegret Soltau, Klaus Staeck, Manfred Wolff-Plottegg, Erwin Wurm, and Paule Zajderman & Daniel Soutif.

The iteration of Matter, Non-Matter, Anti-Matter at ZKM | Karlsruhe was curated by a team led by Lívia Nolasco-Rózsás that is affiliated with two institutions participating in Beyond Matter. Members of the curatorial team are Felix Koberstein, Moritz Konrad (ZKM | Karlsruhe) and Marcella Lista, Philippe Bettinelli, and Julie Champion (Centre Pompidou, Paris).