Hybrid Layers

For the digitally socialised generation of young artists, the Internet is an established feature of everyday life and artistic practice. It serves as an inexhaustible source of material, as does the highly aestheticised world of advertising and corporate design. These young artists are completely comfortable with using the latest software and cutting-edge devices like 3D printers to create photos, videos and sculptures. Data sets become objects and vice versa.
The exhibition “Hybrid Layers” explored the diverse aspects of what can also be called “digital conditions”. It presented new perspectives on digital technologies, the Internet and social networks, and investigated both the virtual and physical manifestations of this art, as well as its ambiguous and oftentimes ironic aesthetics. While the ZKM focused on the infrastructural and dystopian aspects of digital transformation in its “GLOBALE” programme, “Hybrid Layers” highlighted the everyday influences of new media on a young generation of artists, and in particular, the “digital natives” who were born in the 1980s. The artworks featured in the exhibition address contemporary debates and reflect how extensively the digital revolution has impacted every area of our daily lives, our perception and knowledge production.

Artistic director: Peter Weibel
Curators: Giulia Bini (IT), Sabiha Keyif, Daria Mille (RU), Philipp Ziegler
Artists: Sophia AI Maria, Auto Italia, Riccardo Benassi, Enrico Boccioletti, Blunt x Skensved, Aleksandra Domanović, Ed Fornieles, Glass Bead, Guan Xiao, Yngve Holen & Aedrhlsomrs Othryutupt Lauecehrofn, Rachel de Joode, Delia Jürgens, Daniel Keller, La Plage, Lawrence Lek, Metaphysics (Rubén Grilo, Anna K.E., Florian Meisenberg, Mélodie Mousset & Näem Baron, Eddie Peake, Jack Strange and Anne de Vries; produced by: Philip Hausmeier), Katja Novitskova, Yuri Pattison, Tabita Rezaire, Unknown Fields, Anne de Vries, Yu Honglei.