Tilman Hornig
18 Jan - 08 Mar 2014
TILMAN HORNIG
Content is King!
18 January – 8 March 2014
Surrounded by the everyday information flow we hardly can get an insight into the complex nature of its actual medium – the computer. However, the moment computer is separated from content its material side becomes clearly visible. This genuine double nature of the digital medium makes up the subject of Tilman Hornigs show Content is King!
GlassBooks are laptops reduced to their only external appearance. Abstracted from the function of transferring information, they stroke us with their irrevocable materiality. Besides the conspicuous homogeneity, the remarkable aesthetic of these objects in their pure form comes into view.
As material, glass refers to the principle of transparency: while the computer as an information carrier emphasizes the content, it is constantly struggling to stay itself as invisible as possible.
By hiding its materiality, the computer becomes a perfect invisible object. In this position it makes the immaterial substance of information visible and thus real and rises up to the level of mystery that withdraws any clear definition.
In the current exhibition by Tilman Hornig Content is King! the relation between materiality and immateriality of the computer is presented as an interplay. It also tests our usual way of thinking: Is an object in form of a laptop automatically associated with the category of content?
Is a laptop without content empty or is this the only way it can become the thing it actually is?
Content is King!
18 January – 8 March 2014
Surrounded by the everyday information flow we hardly can get an insight into the complex nature of its actual medium – the computer. However, the moment computer is separated from content its material side becomes clearly visible. This genuine double nature of the digital medium makes up the subject of Tilman Hornigs show Content is King!
GlassBooks are laptops reduced to their only external appearance. Abstracted from the function of transferring information, they stroke us with their irrevocable materiality. Besides the conspicuous homogeneity, the remarkable aesthetic of these objects in their pure form comes into view.
As material, glass refers to the principle of transparency: while the computer as an information carrier emphasizes the content, it is constantly struggling to stay itself as invisible as possible.
By hiding its materiality, the computer becomes a perfect invisible object. In this position it makes the immaterial substance of information visible and thus real and rises up to the level of mystery that withdraws any clear definition.
In the current exhibition by Tilman Hornig Content is King! the relation between materiality and immateriality of the computer is presented as an interplay. It also tests our usual way of thinking: Is an object in form of a laptop automatically associated with the category of content?
Is a laptop without content empty or is this the only way it can become the thing it actually is?