Hintergrund

Wir leben in einer Zeit, in der unsere virtuelle Realität nicht mehr klar von der physischen abzugrenzen ist. Die Abkürzung irl (in real life) wurde irgendwann durch afk (away from keyboard) ersetzt, da unsere Erfahrungen in digitalen Umgebungen längst Teil unseres “realen” Lebens geworden sind. Wie entwickelt sich unter diesen Umständen unser Verhältnis zum Dasein? Welche Architekturen strukturieren unser Denken und unsere Wahrnehmung? Ausgehend von dieser Fragestellung haben sich für THIS MESSAGE COULD BE FOR YOU auf Einladung von Ilona Stutz drei künstlerische Positionen miteinander verschachtelt, um im Schatten des Berner Münsters einen von zeitgenössischen Architekturen und Artefakten geprägten Raum zu schaffen.

gousgous (Linda Suter, Nicolas Rothenbühler)
gousgous.eu
gousgous ist ein ökologischer Kunststein basierend auf Zement und Kunststoff. Er wird seit 2021 vom Architekten Nicolas Rothenbühler und der Grafikerin und Fotografin Linda Suter erforscht und entwickelt. Seit 2022 wird gousgous in Architektur- und Designvorhaben verwendet, beispielsweise von Li Tavor/David Winzeler (Architektur), Du Studio – Detour Univers (Architektur), Atlas Studio (Graphic Design), Kueng Caputo (Design), NM3 (Design, Milano) u.a.

Werke aus barocken Kirchen sind gousgous genauso Inspiration wie die Bodenmosaike in Pompeij. Solchen Vorbildern sind Linda und Nicolas durch eine praxisnahe, künstlerische Forschung auf der Spur. Das Festhalten an Bildern lohnt sich nicht – jeder Guss oder Schliff bringt etwas Ungeahntes hervor.

Joerg Hurschler, *1985 (Künstler)
joerghurschler.com
Joerg schafft digitale Welten zwischen organischen Formen und systematischen Strukturen. In seiner Arbeit erforscht er die wechselseitige Abhängigkeit zwischen der physischen und der virtuellen Welt. Ihn interessieren Fragen zur Beziehung zwischen Mensch und Maschine und deren Auswirkung auf die Umgebungen, die sie bewohnen. In jüngster Zeit macht er diese Relationen auch im physischen Raum sichtbar.

Elektra Stampoulou, *1987 (Künstlerin)
elektrastampoulou.com
In Elektras Praxis geht es hauptsächlich um Fragen im Zusammenhang mit Erzählung, Verbreitung, Wiederholbarkeit, dem Unentscheidbaren und dem Verzaubernden. Elektras Arbeit – meist in Form von Installationen, Performances und Texten – bewegt sich zwischen dem Fiktiven und dem Faktischen. Mit zeitabhängigen Verfahren, verschiedenen Medien und oft taktilen und olfaktorischen Komponenten versucht sie unter anderem, gemeinsame Erfahrungen, Handlungsfähigkeit, Unbestimmtheit und das Abschweifende zu erkunden.

Ilona Stutz, *1987 (Künstlerin, kuratiert die Ausstellung)
ilonastutz.com
Ilona befasst sich mit der Beziehung zwischen Individuum und den Strukturen, die es bewohnt und welche ihm selbst innewohnen. Um solche Beziehungen in einer räumlichen Umgebung sicht- und fühlbar zu machen, arbeitet sie mit verschiedenen physischen Medien und sprachlich. Die künstlerische und transdisziplinäre Co-Kreation bildet einen wesentlichen Teil ihrer Praxis. Dem widmet sie sich beispielsweise in Form von kuratorischen Projekten wie dem vorliegenden.

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is written on a pillar of the Bern Cathedral directly opposite Milieu. It could be translated as “do the same”.

Perhaps the cathedral itself has taken the saying a bit too firmly to heart. Built of sandstone, the Gothic church is in a constant process of restoration. The desired preservation of its original form has become part of the cathedral: Even on the little sugar bags for coffee, it is depicted in a wrapped state.

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It is not only the fabric of the building that is eroding, but also its interior: The hair color of the sparse visitors is rather on the white side of gray. The old formula seems to no longer fill the premises.

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More and more people are turning to mystical healing practices to find individual answers in an uncertain and chaotic world.

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Today’s approaches to spirituality and disembodied worlds find their young communities on social media platforms and involve the sharing of short video formats that quickly mutate among hundreds of thousands of followers.

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Algorithms serve us with a mysterious mix of content we already like, content we’re likely to like and content that surprises us.

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Not only the content itself, but also its decentralized creation and dissemination takes place in demarcation from the one narrative of the established churches, which is often perceived as paternalistic. Instead, the focus lies on the power of the individual. By means of spiritual rituals from various times, cultures and esoteric practices, the individual gains strength drawing from herself.

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The trend toward secularization is prompting more and more religious leaders to target Millennials on their own turf. “I use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, Stories, all kinds of things to go where the people are, and that’s where a lot of young people are,” says American pastor James Martin.

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Inspired by traditional witchcraft, the alternative wellness movement #WitchTok has quickly become one of the most popular self-care trends online.

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Followers encourage each other by exchanging spells.

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Casting a spell is like saying a prayer.

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Praying means sending words of manifestation to the universe.

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A mantra that you can use to manifest house, job and boyfriend.

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If you feel like this content isn’t for you please skip and remember to take what resonates.


Text: Ilona Stutz

Background

We live in a time when our virtual reality can no longer be clearly distinguished from the physical one. The abbreviation irl (in real life) was at some point replaced by afk (away from keyboard), as our experiences in digital environments have become part of our "real" lives. How does our relationship to “being” develop under these circumstances? What architectures structure our thinking and perception? Based on this question, for THIS MESSAGE COULD BE FOR YOU three artistic positions have interlocked at the invitation of Ilona Stutz to create a space shaped by contemporary architectures and artifacts in the shadow of the Berne Cathedral.

gousgous (Linda Suter, Nicolas Rothenbühler)
gousgous.eu
gousgous is an ecological artificial stone based on cement and plastic. It has been researched and developed by architect Nicolas Rothenbühler and graphic designer/photographer Linda Suter since 2021. Since 2022, gousgous has been used in architectural and design projects, for example by Li Tavor/David Winzeler (architecture), Du Studio – Detour Univers (architecture), Atlas Studio (graphic design), Kueng Caputo (design), NM3 (design, Milano) and others.

gousgous draw their inspiration from models such as works from baroque churches or the floor mosaics in Pompeii. Instead of sticking to images, Linda and Nicolas approach their stone through practical artistic research, where every cast or cut brings forth something unexpected.

Joerg Hurschler, *1985 (artist)
joerghurschler.com
Joerg creates digital worlds between organic forms and systematic structures. In his work, he explores the interdependence between the physical and virtual worlds. He is interested in questions about the relationship between humans and machines and their impact on the environments they inhabit. Recently, he has been making these relations visible in physical space.

Elektra Stampoulou, *1987 (artist)
elektrastampoulou.com
Elektra is an artist and researcher. Her practice mainly develops around questions related to narrative, dissemination, iterability, the undecidable and the enchanting. Her work usually takes the form of installations, performances, and texts, and wavers between the fictional and the factual. Employing time-dependent processes, various media and often tactile and olfactory components, she attempts to explore among others, shared experience, agency, indeterminacy, and the digressive.

Ilona Stutz, *1987 (artist, curates the exhibition)
ilonastutz.com
Ilona is interested in the relationship between individuals and the structures they inhabit and which in turn are inherent to them. In order to make such relationships visible and tangible in a spatial environment, she works with different physical media and linguistically. Artistic and transdisciplinary co-creation forms an essential part of her practice. She dedicates herself to this in engagement with other artists as well as in the form of curatorial projects such as the present one.