Virtual spaces that seem contextless but are clearly bound to real places; fictive situations that strike as exaggerated but nonetheless familiar; digital images that appear surreal but also bear photographic—“realistic”—qualities. Such oscillations between documentary and fiction, simulation and imagination, and depiction and presentation are recurring moments in Stefanie Schwarzwimmer’s practice. The artist investigates computer-generated images for their speculative potentials: digitally constructed spaces become reflection and projection surfaces that, both despite and because of their aloof smoothness and alienating appearance, are able to trigger friction and emotion. These effects are especially prominent in Schwarzwimmer’s latest work, Seedless Fruits (2024).

On the occasion of the eleventh edition of Another Eye, this 30-minute video work will receive its German premiere. Across three chapters, the film guides the viewers through a spacious office building that, despite its systematic branding having found its way into every last detail, still emerges as interchangeable and anonymous, its genericness only reinforced by the company’s product and even its sector remaining unnamed. The deserted, monochrome scenes seem like stage backdrops, while the soundtrack, composed of fragmentary monologues and dialogues, offers insights that go behind the scenes, beyond the representational level. The visual representations and linguistic formulations are full of clichés that expose the omnipresence of certain tendencies and the absurdity of “reality.”

Following the screening, there will be a discussion between Stefanie Schwarzwimmer and cultural scientist Konstantin Haensch. They will discuss neoliberalism, entrepreneurship, marketing, self-promotion, and other thematics rooted in or related to Schwarzwimmer’s work. The conversation will be held in German.

Stefanie Schwarzwimmer lives and works in Berlin. She studied Fine Arts at the Institute of Art and Digital Media at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna from 2012 to 2018. Her diploma film Silent Revolution (2018) was awarded the Academy Prize. Schwarzwimmer took part in the Berlin Program for Artists in 2017 and the Goldrausch Künstlerinnenprojekt in 2022. Her works, which often consist of rendered moving images presented as installations, have in recent years been exhibited at venues including OÖ Kunstverein, Linz (2024), zqm, Berlin (2023), Scherben, Berlin (2022), ACUD Galerie, Berlin (2022), Deborah Bowmann in Brussels (2021), and Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen (2020).

Konstantin Haensch works at the intersection of theory and practice. He studied Social and Economic Communication at the Berlin University of the Arts and subsequently earned his PhD on the design and strategic history of the Amazon Echo, a connected smart speaker. Following on from teaching positions at universities in Berlin, Potsdam, and Princeton, Haensch currently holds a professorship in the Science and Theory cluster in the Faculty of Design at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hildesheim. He is co-founder and co-editor of several publication series, including the eight-volume Texturen (Logos Verlag, Berlin, 2013–2022) and Uncanny Issues (Textem Verlag, Hamburg, since 2019). The second volume of this series, Uncanny Entrepreneurship, will provide a theoretical basis for the talk with Stefanie Schwarzwimmer.

Curated by Clara Maria Blasius

Another Eye is supported by The Gingko Foundation.