Poetics of Encryption

17.02.–26.05.24

Though we rely on digital tools for many things, we rarely understand how they work. Moreover, due to the proprietary nature of much corporate tech, even the most curious among us cannot gain deeper insight. Today, we are forced to come to terms with our relative lack of power in the face of inscrutable systems. What symptoms of this personal and political drama register in the cultural field? What moods, symbols, or narrative frames capture the aesthetics and politics of exclusion, occlusion, secrecy, and speculation concerning technology’s inside? This extensive group exhibition at KW builds upon the recent book by Nadim Samman titled Poetics of Encryption: Art and the Technocene. It surveys an imaginative landscape marked by Black Sites, Black Boxes, and Black Holes—terms that indicate how technical systems capture users, how they work in stealth, and how they distort cultural space-time. These themes form the basis three chapters that play out across all gallery floors at KW. Spanning analogue and digital media, Poetics of Encryption features both historic and newly commissioned works by more than 40 international artists.

Featuring artists: Nora Al-Badri, Morehshin Allahyari*, American Artist*, Emmanuel Van der Auwera, Gillian Brett, Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Juliana Cerqueira Leite, Julian Charrière, Joshua Citarella, Clusterduck, Juan Covelli, Kate Crawford, Sterling Crispin, Simon Denny, enorê, Roger Hiorns, Tilman Hornig, Rindon Johnson, Vladan Joler, Daniel Keller, Andrea Khôra, Jonna Kina, Oliver Laric, Eva & Franco Mattes, Jürgen Mayer H., Most Dismal Swamp, NEW MODELS, Carsten Nicolai, Simone C Niquille, Trevor Paglen, Matthias Planitzer, Jon Rafman, Rachel Rossin, Sebastian Schmieg, Charles Stankievech, Troika, UBERMORGEN, Nico Vascellari, Zheng Mahler, among others. The exhibition architecture has been made in collaboration with architect Jürgen Mayer H. / J. MAYER H. and partners, architects. A dedicated website-as-catalogue also features three ‘web-first’ artistic commissions, rich media, and a bespoke AI chatbot. See poeticsofencryption.kw-berlin.de

Curator: Nadim Samman
Assistant Curator: Linda Franken
Curatorial Assistant: Lara Scherrieble

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*The artists, whose names are crossed-out, have chosen to strike against German State-funded institutions and therefore withdraw their participation from the exhibition.

KW Studio about Poetics of Encryption with Nadim Samman, Linda Franken and the artists Juliana Cerqueira Leite, Most Dismal Swamp, Nora Al-Badri and Franziska von Guten & Silvia Dal Dosso / Clusterduck Collective. Production: LOCOLOR, Realisation: Gregor Kuhlmann, Camera: Gregor Kuhlmann & Vincent Schaack, Sound: Lia Valero, Editing & Color Grading: Gregor Kuhlmann. A production by KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, 2024.

On the KW Digital program & the project Poetics of Encryption:

Curatorial Introduction

by Nadim Samman, Linda Franken, Lara Scherrieble


God is an infinite sphere whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.
— Nicholas of Cusa

We rely on digital tools for many things, yet rarely understand how they work. Gaining deeper insight is not always an option. First, due to the proprietary nature of much corporate tech. Second, because understanding how an advanced AI came to generate a particular output can be impossible. Such ignorance and lack of power with respect to encrypted systems is difficult to endure. How does this situation register in art?
 

Artist Biographies

Short biographies of the participating artists

Part of project: KW Digital Program

KW Institute for Contemporary Art sits at the intersection of virtual and material worlds, and the creative use of emerging technologies. We understand that the digital is not just online or onscreen—but increasingly conditions analog or ‘real’ space. For this reason, we consider the continuum between digital and physical domains to be a key issue in contemporary culture. Exploring, criticizing, or reinventing it through art is in the public interest.

The KW Digital Program showcased cutting-edge developments in line with this vision. The program did not place the virtual in a subordinate role to the physical (or vice versa). As everyday life becomes more saturated with tech, one’s experience straddles both. Addressing this condition, our program played out across various platforms—rather than being proprietary to any particular device or location.

Throughout, we trained a close eye on the relationship between culture and innovation. We were guided by dialogue with artists and scholars. We also pursued meaningful engagement with the tech sector—to better discover the implications of applied science, and intellectual frameworks for the future.

The program was curated by Dr. Nadim Samman, Curator Digital Sphere at KW.

Overview
2021–2024

KW Digital:
Poetics of Encryption
2023–2024

KW Digital:
Poetics of Encryption
17 February – 26 May 2024

Poetics of Encryption
Conference
27/28 October 23

Poetics of Encryption
Book launch
28 April 23

KW on location:
Rachel Rossin
THE MAW OF
15–18 September 22
Tieranatomisches­ Theater

Open Secret
16 July – 31 December 21

The Last Museum
30 April – 6 June 21

Related Events

The KW Digital Program in 2023–2024 is supported by Volkswagen Group.

The exhibition Poetics of Encryption is supported by Apalazzo, Blessed Foundation, max goelitz, Harlan Levey Projects, and Sprüth Magers. The exhibition is initiated by KW and a new iteration will be shown at Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen in late 2024.

Media partners to the exhibition