Poetics of Encryption

In the organizer's words:

We rely on digital tools in many areas. But we rarely understand how they actually work. And since many of these technologies are tied to specific companies, it is almost impossible to fully understand how they work, even with the greatest curiosity. We have no choice but to resign ourselves to our relative powerlessness in the face of inscrutable systems. How does this personal and political drama manifest itself in the cultural sphere? What moods, symbols or narratives convey the aesthetics and politics of exclusion, isolation, secrecy and speculation about the inner work ings of technology? The group exhibition at KW ties in with the recently published book Poetics of Encryption. Art and the Technocene by Nadim Samman. It explores an imaginary landscape characterized by black sites, black boxes and black holes - secret places, non-transparent systems and black holes - where these terms already indicate the extent to which technical systems captivate users, how they work in secret and how they distort space and time in culture. These themes are addressed in the exhibition, which is divided into three chapters and spread across all floors of KW. Poetics of Encryption features both existing and newly commissioned works by more than 40 international artists working with analog and digital media.

Participating artists are: Nora Al-Badri, Morehshin Allahyari, American Artist, Emmanuel Van der Auwera, Gillian Brett, Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion, Juliana Cerqueira Leite, Julian Charrière, Joshua Citarella, Clusterduck, Juan Covelli, Kate Crawford & Vladan Joler, Sterling Crispin, Simon Denny, enorê, Roger Hiorns, Tilman Hornig, Rindon Johnson, Daniel Keller, Andrea Khôra, Jonna Kina, Oliver Laric, Eva & Franco Mattes, Most Dismal Swamp, Carsten Nicolai, Simone C. Niquille, Trevor Paglen, Matthias Planitzer, Jon Rafman, Rachel Rossin, Sebastian Schmieg, Charles Stankievech, Troika, UBERMORGEN, Nico Vascellari, Zheng Mahler and others. The exhibition design was created in collaboration with architect Jürgen Mayer H. A dedicated website, also serving as a catalog for the exhibition, also presents three "web-first" works commissioned for the exhibition, rich media and a custom AI chatbot. See poeticsofencryption.kw-berlin.de

Price information:

Tickets can only be purchased on site and with card payment. The following cards are accepted: Girocard, Mastercard, Amex, VISA, Maestro, VISA Electron and ApplePay. Regular €10 / Reduced €6 Berlin Welcome Card holders €6 / Reduced €4.50 Discount applies to school pupils, students, federal volunteers, BBK members, holders of the volunteer card and severely disabled persons (at least 50 % disability) on presentation of proof. Free admission - up to and including 18 years - for friends of KW and Berlin Biennale and KW Lover* - every Thursday evening from 6pm to 9pm for all visitors - every 1st Sunday of the month as part of Museum Sunday Berlin. Please book a ticket in advance via the booking system. A few tickets are available on site - holders of proof of eligibility (formerly berlinpass), recipients of ALG II Free admission: Thursday 6pm - 9pm