Anna Uddenberg, Booty Dummy Demo (2013). Styrofoam, glass fiber, aqua resin, bar stools, rotating lamps, mirrors. Dimensions variable. Photo courtesy of Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler.
Chatsubo is the name of the expat bar in William Gibson’s Neuromancer, the award-winning novel that shaped an entire generation of cyberpunk and hacker culture—even inspiring The Matrix. Gibson is, in fact, credited with the first use of the word “cyberspace” in literature, helping to create the conception of the internet that we have today, a “consensual hallucination” that doesn’t physically exist except in 0s, 1s, and fiber optic cables. Chatsubo is also the name of a new exhibition at Berlin gallery Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, but besides the name, the art on display doesn’t initially seem to have much to do with cyberspace. Instead, it deals with the restrictions and limitations of physical bodies, grouping together the work of five artists: Mathis Gasser, Stuart Middleton, Ebecho Muslimova, Anna Uddenberg, and Issy Wood.
Advertisement
L to R: Stuart Middleton, Come Undone (2013), and Untitled (2016). Mathis Gasser, Nobuo Takahashi (2012-13), Henriette (After Kurt Seligmann) (2012-13) Lester, (2012-13) and The Incredible Melting Man (2011). Image courtesy of Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler.
Most of the works are figurative paintings and drawings that at least hint at human forms, which really throws into question the single abstract work, Stuart Middleton’s Untitled, a spiked steel sculpture. It’s installed between a drawing by the same artist of fleshy, red-tinged tourists squeezed behind a fence, and a painting by Mathis Gasser called Nobuo Takahashi, a depiction of a crazed character from a manga by Minetaro Mochizuki called Dragon Head. Nobuo is covered in black spots that are said to be paint, but could be interpreted as puncture wounds, and the violent tension is heightened by his holding of a spear. In this context, Middleton’s sculpture is unnervingly evocative of a torture instrument.Fine art body horror makes appearances elsewhere in the gallery, like in a trio of ink drawings by Ebecho Muslimova. In one, a bulbous figure called “Fatebe” explodes from a podium-like structure. In another, the Fatebe human-centipedes herself inside a room of mirrors, which endlessly reflect the figure’s gaping holes. And then, a maniacally-smiling, three-breasted figure spills into a series of airport security bins on a conveyor belt—capturing exactly the crazed feeling of dealing with the TSA.
Ebecho Muslimova, FATEBE BINS, (2016). Image courtesy of Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler.
The gallery, located on the fourth floor of an office building, was one of the earliest to represent a generation of post-internet artists, many of which are experiencing another trending wave because of their inclusion in the 9th Berlin Biennale; GCC, Katja Novitskova, Timur Si-Qin, AIDS-3D, and K-Hole, to name a few. Before Chatsubo, K-TZ exhibited a sculpture show by Rachel Harrison that began with Berlin Gallery Weekend. This return to more traditional forms like painting, sculpture, and drawing signals a shift in a space that, even last year, held digital-focused shows by, among others, Andrea Crespo and Daniel Keller. But fans of digital work shouldn’t dismay, because these physical, formal works deal with issues that arise from a digitally-infused life, and prove that post-internet isn’t the only way to make art about life with, and after, the internet. The internet might have the potential to make our physical forms feel inadequate to the endless imaginative and regenerative potentials of cyberspace—but drawing and painting can do that, too.
ONE EMAIL. ONE STORY. EVERY WEEK. SIGN UP FOR THE VICE NEWSLETTER.
By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.
