Digitization, Surveillance and Identity at the Kunstverein Speyer e. V.
Beginning December 2, 2018 the Kunstverein Speyer e. V. presents Elias Wessel: Die Summe meiner Daten – Digitalisierung, Überwachung, Identität. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Kunstverein the exhibition – for the first time – features a selection of large format works from the artist’s Die Summe meiner Daten series, alongside of his small format edition of the B/W Series. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue conceived by the artist and a comprehensive public program though January 13, 2019 including guided tours, artist talks and lectures.
Exhibition poster of Elias Wessel: Die Summe meiner Daten – Digitalisierung, Überwachung, Identität. The exhibition is made possible by the Foundation Rhineland-Palatinate for Culture and the kind support of many additional sponsors (image © Elias Wessel, CPE New York and VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2018)
Dr. Jenny Graser, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Städel Museum Frankfurt am Main (starting January 2020 at the Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz) contributes to the exhibition with her opening speech and her essay »Abstrakte Realitäten« (Abstract Realities), published within the accompanying exhibition catalogue.
Dr. Jenny Graser during her opening speech. Furthermore, Stefanie Seiler, Mayor of the city of Speyer and Klaus Fresenius, Director of the Kunstverein Speyer greeted the audience (image © Elias Wessel and VG Bild-Kunst Bonn with courtesy of the Kunstverein Speyer e. V., 2019)
At a time when questions about the opportunities, challenges and risks of digitization are being discussed around the world, digitization and the (mis)use of collected data is a thematic focal point in the work of Elias Wessel. In Die Summe meiner Daten (The Sum of My Data) the traces marks and fingerprints result from a functional interaction between the human being and our todays communication devices. From the everyday use of smartphones and tablets, from typing and wiping, writing emails, texts or WhatsApp messages, booking train tickets or using other functional apps. Artistic strategies make perceptible the seemingly hidden in a combination of photography and gestural painting. The superimposing structures on the displays culminate into palimpsest-like, painterly-appearing photographs that document the simultaneity of digitization, surveillance and identity.
Exhibition view of Elias Wessel: Die Summe meiner Daten – Digitalisierung, Überwachung, Identität at the Kunstverein Speyer, 2018-19. Here to the left: Die Summe meiner Daten, Origin (On Series, No. 1), 2017 (all exhibition images © Elias Wessel and VG Bild-Kunst Bonn with courtesy of the Kunstverein Speyer e. V., 2019)
Exhibition view of Elias Wessel: Die Summe meiner Daten – Digitalisierung, Überwachung, Identität at the Kunstverein Speyer. The work cycle consists out of three consecutive series (Off-, On- and B/W Series) with a total of 52 images. The colors evolve from an analog process. All works are archival pigment prints onto uncoated photo paper.
Exhibition view of Elias Wessel: Die Summe meiner Daten – Digitalisierung, Überwachung, Identität at the Kunstverein Speyer. Here to the right Die Summe meiner Daten – On Series, No. 3, 2017
Die Summe meiner Daten – On Series, No. 5 and No. 11, 2017 (from left to right)
Die Summe meiner Daten – On Series, No. 3, No. 8 and No. 10, 2017 (from left to right). The exhibition also includes the complete small format edition of the B/W Series
Artwork to the right: Die Summe meiner Daten – On Series, No. 6, 2017, Color Photograph, 217,7 x 164 cm (framed)
