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A Boring Dystopia

Exhibition | Video Installation by Matthias Planitzer

  • Goethe-Institut New York, New York, NY

  • Free

Still from "A Boring Dystopia," Matthias Planitzer, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Still from "A Boring Dystopia," Matthias Planitzer, 2023. Courtesy of the artist.

Still from "A Boring Dystopia," Matthias Planitzer, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Still from "A Boring Dystopia," Matthias Planitzer, 2023. Courtesy of the artist.

EXHIBITION OPENING RECEPTION:
Thursday, May 8 from 6:00-8:30pm

GALLERY HOURS:
Monday - Thursday from 10am-6pm


The Goethe-Institut New York is pleased to present the first US solo exhibition of artist Matthias Planitzer. This exhibition features an adapted version of the artist's video installation, A Boring Dystopia (2023). The work renders a hyper-real Manhattan, yet not all is as it should be. Envisioned as a societal pyschogram, the video follows one protagonist as he recites a soliloquy contemplating humans’ role in a world increasingly overtaken and overdetermined by intelligent technology.

The architectural installation in which the video is viewed further elevates the uncanniness offered on screen and inspires emotions of unease. Planitzer’s video installation has been previously featured in the traveling exhibition, Poetics of Encryption (curated by Nadim Samman), at KW Institut for Contemporary Art, Berlin; Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen; and Galerie Rudolfinum, Prauge.

Curated by Zachary B. Feldman with curatorial assistance by Mattis Thomsen and Anna Reimnitz.


Technical Support: Lukas Kandert, Jan Oelze, Clemens Schöll
Installation Support: Khalid Alharbi, Christopher Daharsh, Zachary B. Feldman, Mark Holte, Randy Holte, Moritz Kreul, Rosa Lynn Pakusch, Anna Reimnitz, Mattis Thomsen
Graphic Design: Moritz Kreul
Thanks to: Akiko Bernhöft, Viktor Bone, Elisa Jule Braun, Erich Gutmann, Jack Tom Hogan, Can Kurucu, Lensbased Class, Marion Planitzer, Bruno Siegrist, Hito Steyerl, Moritz Stumm, Mizu Sugai

For Heiko-Thandeka Ncube

Artist

Matthias Planitzer

Matthias Planitzer’s practice revolves around the fabrication, usage, and culture of political and scientific images, their epistemological substrates and operational applications. His further interest lies in the politics of computational decision making and the implications of automated reality. His work primarily employs a wide range of digital media, most notably video and video installations, computational imagery, and photography.

Planitzer’s recent exhibitions were held at venues such as Kunsthal Charlottenborg (Copenhagen), KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Berlin), Galerie Rudolfinum (Prague), Rijksmuseum Twenthe (Enschede), documenta fifteen (Kassel), and Museum for Photography (Berlin) among others. He holds degrees in Fine Arts and medicine from Universität der Künste (Berlin) and Charité (Berlin), respectively, and is co-editor of the “Uncanny Issues” book series. He lives and works in Berlin.

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