MetaContraVerse
GESTE Paris Meta_Contra_Verse
GESTE Paris is pleased to announce for 2022 its sixth annual exhibition Meta_Contra_Verse curated by Shiva Lynn Burgos, the founder of GESTE, Camille Gajate and Georg Bak.
Images d’installation Installation Images
Meta_Contra_Verse
en français ci-dessous
"The future is already here, it's just not evenly distributed." William Gibson
GESTE Paris is pleased to announce for 2022 its sixth annual exhibition Meta_Contra_Verse curated by Shiva Lynn Burgos, the founder of GESTE, Camille Gajate and Georg Bak.
This year’s exhibition features digital intangibles such as shape-shifting avatars, blockchain-based NFTs, physical and forged representations thereof, WEB 3.0, AI-generated art and text, the metaverse and "verse" in general as a lyrical counter-point in dialogue with photography, sculpture and drawing and such representations of imaginary worlds in art history.
Meta_Contra_Verse, curated by Shiva Lynn Burgos, founder of GESTE, Camille Gajate, and Georg Bak includes works by Arelis, Fiona Banner, Michael Betancourt, Clément Briend, SLB, Jarvis Cocker, Jen DeNike, Hamid Ebrahimnia, Félicie d'Estienne d'Orves, Benjamin Freedman, Claudia Fuggetti, Gus, Aaron Huey, Bart Krezolek, Manon Lanjouère, Janet Levy, MONOMO, Man Ray, Alvin Ng, Jurgis Peters, Damien Roach, Kenny Schachter, Space+, Adam Starr and Shane Wheatcroft.
Shortlist of the Open Call: Anna66 Andrzejewska, Cristobal Ascencio, B. Bogart, Polina S., Synchrodogs and Mouneb Taim for Single Image and Nero Cosmos, Marte Hodne Haugen, Flavia Souza, Alex Verhaest, Ernest Wu and Charlotte Yao for Video / Moving Image
Meta_Contra_Verse, takes its inspiration from influential philosopher Vilém Flusser who described photography in terms of a philosophical action or gesture. Since his death in 1991 the world of photography and image-making has expanded exponentially. Artificial intelligence is creating algorithmic hyper-interpretations, virtual and augmented reality let us explore worlds both real and simulated. Glitches in these systems are self-reflective and catalyse further creative opportunities.
Questions frame the exhibition: What would Flusser say when confronted with these novel realities and potentials? How can we play within and alongside (meta) the machine rather than against it (contra)? How have the means shifted our future's future vision of creation? How are fears attached to these transformational media? Why is it contra_versial? Is there space for everyone in this space? What does it look like? Feel like? Smell like? Where do these bubbles divert and connect artistically?
In addition, an accomplished international jury has selected six winning entries, the result of an open call, to be included alongside the curated exhibition. GESTE Paris will purchase at least one of these six works to be added to the GESTE permanent art collection. The Open Call section of the exhibition receives submissions from all over the world and provides an opportunity to showcase new artists’ work that has not received the exposure it deserves. Click here for more information on the Open Call.
Shiva Lynn Burgos is the founder of Geste Paris. An internationally exhibited artist, collector and curator, she has had a longstanding involvement in experimental image-making, 360 VR, MR and blockchain as well as analog processes.
Independent curator and exhibition coordinator, Camille Gajate learned about the conservation of photographs and the appreciation of their artistic value within the archives of the Guimet Museum and the Old Photographs Archives in Nagasaki. After her master's degree at INALCO and in the desire to disseminate the collections, she achieved a degree in Cultural Management and Exhibition Curatorship at IESA in 2016. Camille has worked for Kyotographie, Paris Photo and Photo Doc. In 2018, she became coordinator of the Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation and consequently, in 2020, joined Emmanuelle de l'Ecotais for the creation of Photo Days. Concurrently, in 2019, Camille Gajate founded the international residency and annual open-air festival BZH PHOTO.
Georg Bak • Art Advisor & Curator, Crypto + Blockchain Art served in senior positions for Hauser & Wirth in Zurich and London and as an art advisor at LGT Bank in Zurich before running his own gallery SCHEUBLEIN + BAK in Zurich for seven years. He specialised in generative art and curated shows such as "Thinking in Algorithms", "Against Photography" and "Perfect & Priceless. Value Systems on the Blockchain". Bak currently advises digital art collectors and companies in the blockchain industry and is a strategic art advisor to 4ARTechnologies. He is also on the curatorial board of RARE Art Festival in New York, an advisor of MoCDA ( Museum of Contemporary Digital Art London), a board member of Art Identification Standard (AIS) and an independent curator of digital art exhibitions.
« L'avenir est déjà là, il n'est tout simplement pas réparti uniformément. » - William Gibson
GESTE Paris a le plaisir d’annoncer sa sixième exposition annuelle Meta_Contra_Verse.
Présentation d’œuvres numériques intangibles, avatars en métamorphose, NFTs, leurs représentations physiques et forgées, WEB 3.0, art et texte générés par Intelligence Artificielle, blockchain, métaverse et le "vers" en général comme un contrepoint lyrique en dialogue avec la photographie, la sculpture et le dessin ainsi que les représentations de mondes imaginaires dans l'histoire de l'art.
Meta_Contra_Verse est présenté par les commissaires Shiva Lynn Burgos, Camille Gajate et Georg Bak. L’exposition inclut les œuvres de Arelis, Fiona Banner, Michael Betancourt, Clément Briend, SLB, Jarvis Cocker, Jen DeNike, Hamid Ebrahimnia, Félicie d'Estienne d'Orves, Benjamin Freedman, Claudia Fuggetti, Gus, Aaron Huey, Bart Krezolek, Manon Lanjouère, Janet Levy, MONOMO, Man Ray, Alvin Ng, Jurgis Peters, Damien Roach, Kenny Schachter, Space+, Adam Starr et Shane Wheatcroft ainsi qu’une sélection choisie par le jury 2022.
Meta_Contra_Verse s'inspire de l'influent philosophe Vilém Flusser qui décrivait la photographie comme une action ou un geste philosophique. Depuis sa mort en 1991, le monde de la photographie et de la création d'images s'est développé de manière exponentielle. L'intelligence artificielle crée des hyper-interprétations algorithmiques. La réalité virtuelle et augmentée nous permet d'explorer des mondes à la fois réels et simulés. Les dysfonctionnements de ces systèmes sont une source d'autoréflexion et catalysent de nouvelles opportunités créatives.
L’exposition met en lumière les questions suivantes : Que dirait Flusser face à ces nouvelles réalités et potentiels ? Comment pouvons-nous jouer à l'intérieur et à côté de la machine (méta) plutôt que contre elle (contra) ? Comment nos moyens ont-ils modifié la vision de la création de notre avenir ? Comment nos peurs sont-elles attachées à ces moyens de transformation ? Pourquoi est-ce contra_versé ? Y a-t-il de la place pour tout le monde dans cet espace ? A quoi ressemble-t-il ? Peut-on le toucher ? Que sent-il ? Vers où ces bulles de Meta_Contra_Verse dévient et se connectent-elles artistiquement ?
GESTE Paris se déroule chaque année à deux pas du Palais Royal dans le cadre intime d'un appartement parisien classique réunissant une collection privée d’art et les œuvres des artistes sélectionnés.