BODY | IMAGES. Transformations between Physical and Virtual Worlds

Presentation of the artists Banz & Bowinkel and Jonas Blume

As part of the exhibition ‘Kunst Digital oder Digitale Kunst’, curated by Raiko Schwalbe

StadtHausGalerie Sonthofen

November 22, 2024 until January 12, 2025

Curated by Dr. Tina Sauerlaender und Peggy Schoenegge (peer to space)

Digital technologies enable us to transfer physical bodies into virtual spaces where they can be reshaped, multiplied and expanded. The artists Banz & Bowinkel and Jonas Blume explore human bodies under digital conditions and use different media and materials to show the body in a new way. Curated by Dr. Tina Sauerlaender and Peggy Schoenegge (peer to space), the presentation “KÖRPER | BILDER. Transformations between the physical and virtual world” shows new forms of representation of the human body and encourages us to rethink and expand our ideas of corporeality against the backdrop of digital possibilities.

About Banz & Bowinkel

Banz and Bowinkel, BODYPAINT V 31, BODYPAINT V 28, 2020, AR CGI-FineArt Prints, 70x105 cm

The works of Giulia Bowinkel and Friedemann Banz show digital forms whose textures are reminiscent of materials such as glass, plastic or wax. For this series of works, the duo translated their own performative movements into abstract representations using motion tracking. This technology enables them to create lines through body movements, similar to using a paintbrush, which they then process and refine digitally. By making these movement sequences visible, they point to the complexity of data representation and shed light on the often hidden processes of digital media. The representation of the data in the form of seemingly tangible materials makes it tangible to us as viewers and reveals the otherwise invisible processes.

In combination with the associated augmented reality (AR) application, the two-dimensional representations are expanded virtually and take on a new dimension: on the tablet screen, the virtual forms break through the physical space and invite viewers to explore them spatially. This creates reflective moments that oscillate between moving images, virtual sculptures and momentary interactions and explore the boundary between physical and digital space in a new way. Banz & Bowinkel thus create an immersive experience that offers viewers the opportunity to reflect on their own role and perception in the digital context.

About Jonas Blume 

Jonas Blume is a media artist who deals with the entanglement of reality and fiction. He explores topics such as cyber identity, virtual corporeality and fictional narratives. He combines generative image technologies, artificial intelligence and physical installations. In the exhibited works, Jonas Blume uses photographs and scans of his body to create fabric sculptures and animated digital avatars. In doing so, he observes how the process of translation between analog and digital media affects the representation of the body.

Jonas Blume received a BFA from Pratt Institute, New York, and an MA in Visual Anthropology from FU Berlin. His work has been exhibited internationally, for example at the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich, NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, Centre Pompidou Paris, Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen, and the Goethe Institutes Montréal and Toronto.

Jonas Blume, Partially True, Hanging and rotating fabric sculptures, life-size, 2022

In an elaborate process, Jonas Blume created an analog pattern of his body from digital photographs of his body and transformed it back into a physical 3D object. The soft sculptures form the artist's body in life-size. Through the process of translating from the physical to the pictorial (and back to the physical) and from the analog to the digital (and back to the analog), he questions the nature of the body in the interplay of different media and realities.

Jonas Blume, Bodies, full HD video, 8:13min, 2023

Two groups of 10,000 avatars face each other on a virtual grid level. They are clones of the artist's alter ego, “Average Jonas”. Their faces are a combination of the first 50 Google image search results for “Jonas Blume” and their bodies correspond to statistical averages. After a bloody battle between the avatars, the lifeless bodies pile up towards the sky. Bodies stages the division of identity between physical and virtual existence as an absurd spectacle.

Jonas Blume, Hands of God I and II, two color prints on Dibond behind acrylic glass, 60 x 80 cm each, 2024

Human hands can vary greatly in shape, size and skin color. Especially when several hands come together, their complex musculoskeletal system poses a challenge for artificial intelligence. AI therefore has difficulty correctly capturing and representing this human diversity. The artist captures this moment in the development of AI, in which it attempts to appropriate even the most complex part of the human body.

Image Credits (c) peer to space