INTERVIEW: SEBASTIAN NEEB

"22 sausages to stare at, praise and worship" (2015) © Sebastian Neeb

A few weeks ago "Praise and Trophy“ opened at Berlin art space Dzialdov. The show dealt with the question of how a certain symbolism can be held accountable for moments of sublimity, majesty and superiority. It asked how much these sentiments are rather a matter of traditions and emotions than of an actual expression of reality. Three different positions, Lars Bjerre, Max Dickhaus and Sebastian Neeb were invited to participate; I sat down with one of them. 

With a diverse body of work, Berlin-based artist Sebastian Neeb (b. 1980) surveys how certain media can be used to guide, influence and control individuals as well as the mass and how closely real and fake values are linked together. In his idea, the awarding of trophies and titles is rather a matter of manipulation, a loose promise of a value that only exists in people’s head without having an actual materialistic counter-value. Following this concept, a new kind of character head is courting for leadership within his series "New Leader", while "Trophies for Outstanding Performance Over Decades" awards rather nonsensical achievements like the finding of an already emptied jug of wisdom.

INTERVIEW: FLORIAN KUHLMANN

"This is not a smile" © Florian Kuhlmann

Florian Kuhlmann is not merely a digital artist. The challenges, the ambiguity, the changes and the opportunities posed by digital technology are central to all of his countless projects, uniting his interests under the key of digitalism. Working as an artist, curator, organiser of festivals and conferences, blogger or researcher, but also as a web designer or coder, 1975-born Florian currently runs the project space Digital3mpire and the art blog perisphere.de, both of which emphasise digital art in the area in and around Düsseldorf, where he lives. Having exhibited and curated internationally, his current project "this is not" returns to the material of the canvas and explores how the relation of text and emotion have altered in a time of digital every day conversations. His sharp reseach in these new social phenomena, that we are all a part of, are worth taking a closer look. In our interview he explains why digitalism is such an urgent matter to him and how art is a part of this discussion.