Exploring Stefan Karrer at Kunsthaus Baselland
Contemporary art often reflects the subtle shifts in how we interact with digital media, online spaces, and physical reality. At Kunsthaus Baselland, an exhibition dedicated to the work of Stefan Karrer invites visitors to examine these very dynamics. Running from January 24 to July 5, 2020, the presentation brings together immersive video, sound installations, and digital investigations created by the Basel-born, Vienna-based artist.
Digital Myths and the Physical World
A central focal point of the exhibition engages with the tension between original locations and their digital counterparts. Drawing inspiration from mythological sites like Calypso’s Cave on the island of Gozo—which has faced closure and subsequent relocation in digital photography and social media tags—the installation examines whether online representations have begun to overshadow physical experiences.
Through a dedicated website displayed in the gallery, Karrer loops photographs and captions tied to internet tags, questioning how human desire and digital image culture attempt to reshape physical geography. Press coverage from outlets such as the Basler Zeitung and Badische Zeitung documented the expansive nature of these concurrent institutional presentations during the early months of 2020. Further insights into the exhibition can also be found via external features in Wall Street International Magazine and Radio X.
Sound, Assistants, and Automated Agency
As visitors move further into the galleries, the exhibition expands into themes of technological autonomy and auditory memory. One room introduces !Ping, a developing digital assistant that listens continuously to its environment and reflects on past data streams during periods of computer inactivity. Another installation titled VS utilizes legendary synthesizers—the Yamaha DX7 and Korg M1—to explore how factory presets formed an auditory collective memory across popular culture in the 1980s and 1990s.
The titular work, oO, shifts focus toward photographic terminology and online forum debates surrounding the concept of "bokeh." A synthetic voice reads two decades of internet discussions regarding the pronunciation and meaning of the term, accompanied by imagery of water droplets that blend technical origins with a surprisingly poetic resonance.
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