Altered Emotions | Group Exhibition | ARTCO Galerie Berlin | 29.06.-22.07.2023

ALTERED EMOTIONS is a group exhibition that delves into the profound impact of technological advancements on our perception and interaction with our surroundings. Through a wide range of mediums, the exhibition employs the power of aesthetics to explore the new structures which frame our reality. Examining the interconnected space of empathy, meaning and perception, the show offers a kaleidoscopic exploration of how we experience the world.

The exhibition features 11v151131_m06, Aaron Scheer, Anna Ehrenstein, Arne Grugel, Anna Nezhnaya, Cille Sch, Franco D. Sosio, Johannes Ehemann, Ju Schnee, Katya Quel, Tabitha Swanson, and Zoltani + guests

Technological advancements increasingly blur the line between the digital and the analogue world actively altering the human experience. As new inventions seep into the public as well as the private sphere, the structures and frameworks we once relied upon to understand reality feel inadequate. Our presence now extends beyond what lies within our physical reach, with our devices enabling a simultaneous presence in the digital realm. Thus we now have a dual existence, splitting our focus and engagement between the two.

These innumerable gadgets have also inundated us with an overwhelming amount of information. This content overload has created a culture of superficial engagement, where we skim the surface without ever delving into depths of understanding. The effect of these new habits does not only influence our interactions in the digital world but likewise impacts our behaviour on a broader scale, modifying our engagement online as well as offline.

ALTERED EMOTIONS examines how these developments have transformed the way we see and immerse ourselves with the world around us. Arguably, we have never been able to grasp the full scope of reality, yet we can now directly engage with ways that warp the experience in real-time. The exhibition seeks to highlight the distortion by including artworks inhabiting a paradoxical nature that exposes how we cannot blindly trust the instant conclusions of our first impressions. However, as we move beyond compelling juxtapositions, the question remains of how these new ways of seeing fundamentally affect us. Because as our engagement becomes more superficial, we disrupt how we empathize and the ways we discern meaning.

ALTERED EMOTIONS offers the audience a platform to examine how our emotional capacities have transformed by allowing interaction with a wide range of mediums. The featured works highlight how superficial components are imperative to our interpretation of what we see. Yet by utilizing the visual allure as a gateway, the pieces stimulate critical dialogue about prevailing issues and make us reflect upon the new landscape we find ourselves in.