UBERMORGEN.COM: ART FID [F]originals - Authenticity as consensual hallucination

In the framework of medien_kunst_netz dortmund
in cooperation with [plug.in], Basel, and overgaden, Copenhagen

Opening: Friday, May 26, 2006, 17:00

Welcome and introduction: Susanne Ackers, managing director of Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund, and Jacob Lillemose, overgaden, Copenhagen

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags are small ‚passive radio' tags equipped with silicon chips and antennas „to enable them to receive and respond to radio-frequency queries from an RFID transceiver“ (Wikipedia). In the very near future, they will replace the barcode and will play an enormous role in logistics, theft prevention and surveillance of individuals. In an installation consisting of a stylized conveyor belt, several large-format pixel paintings (ART FID, 2005) and a mass of RFID tags, UBERMORGEN.COM scrutinizes the promises of a „beautiful new world“.

UBERMORGEN.COM has coined the term „[F]originals“.„[F]originals“ designate any „original“ documents or legal papers that in the narrow sense of the word are not originals any more, i.e. such documents which have been created „by the machine“ (in German: „maschinell erstellt“) and which are „valid without signature“. „[F]original“ is a neologism from „to forge“ and „original“. In the end, according to UBERMORGEN.COM, such „[f]original“ documents are nothing more than Pixels on a screen and ink on paper. [F]originals claim authenticity but at closer inspection turn out to be nothing more that a „consensual hallucination“ (William Gibson).

The presentation at PHOENIX Halle Dortmund is the first solo show of the Swiss-Austrian artists' duo in Germany. In the mid-1990s, the members of UBERMORGEN.COM were co-founders of the radical Swiss net art group etoy which became famous in 1999/2000 for its spectacular action toywar.com.

See on this page also the text by Domenico Quaranta, „Lilly controls my Foriginals“

www.ubermorgen.com


Curated by
Inke Arns (Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund), Jacob Lillemose (overgaden, Copenhagen), Annette Schindler (plug.in, Basel)

Junior Curator HMKV
Francis Hunger

Opening hours:
Wed 11:00 - 17:00, Thu - Sun 11:00 - 20:00

Admission:
4 Euro, reduced 2 Euro (including admission to the exhibitions „Glamour and Globalization“ and „Solar Radio Station“)

Catalogue:
A book will be published at the end of the year (English).

Guided tours:
Free guided tours at PHOENIX Halle each Sunday at 16:00 (in German) (included in the admission)

How to get there relatively quickly:
http://www.hmkv.de/dyn/e_contact_roaddescription/

Contact:
Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Guentherstrasse 65, 44143 Dortmund
Telefon ++49 (0)231 823 106, info@hmkv.de

Parallel to UBERMORGEN.COM, there are the following exhibitions on display at PHOENIX Halle: Glamour and Globalization and Solar Radio Station (both until July 16, 2006). At Museum am Ostwall the exhibition mit allem rechnen. Medienkunst aus Estland, Lettland und Litauen is currently on show (until July 23, 2006).

In the context of Elektronik Baltikum (May 27, 2006, doors open at 20:00) all the exhibitions at PHOENIX Halle are open until late at night

In cooperation with
Kulturbuero Stadt Dortmund, dortmund-project, LEG, PHOENIX

Generously supported by
Pro Helvetia - Schweizer Kulturstiftung; Bundesamt fuer Kultur