TOUCHING FROM A DISTANCE II–Transmediations in the Digital Age

Commissioned & presented by the Goethe-Institut Toronto
Co-presented with Hot Docs, Images Festival & Digifest

Artists: Jonas Blume (DE), Manja Ebert (DE), Ornella Fieres (DE), Aron Lesnik (DE), Lorna Mills (CAN), Sarah Oh-Mock (DE), Julia Charlotte Richter (DE), Anna Ridler (UK), The Swan Collective (DE), Tina Wilke (DE).

Curated by Tina Sauerlaender (peer to space)

Opening & Artist Talk: Friday, March 22, 2019, 6:30 pm

Goethe Media Space, 100 University Ave, North Tower, 2nd floor, Toronto, Canada

Duration: March 22 - May 23, 2019

Touching From A Distance II presents recent digital art works immersed into the book shelves and media hardware at the Goethe Media Space. All works deal with transmediation, the process of translating information between different co-existing media–analog or digital, written or visual. The concept of transmediation reflects our daily internet routine, as we stay connected via intangible yet visible information. The band Joy Division praised the effect of music conveyed through the radio with their 1979 song Transmission: “Touching from a distance...sound, that's all we need to synchronise.” Today, digital data reaches and connects us as we post images, create short videos, or use emojis.

The 10 featured works build bridges between literature, language, digital art or VR. Ornella Fieres explores the transitions between analog and digital imagery; Anna Ridler transforms Edgar Allan Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher into an AI animation based on the artist’s drawings; Aron Lesnik creates uncanny animations of people talking about the advantages of reading.

The exhibition is the 2nd version of TOUCHING FROM A DISTANCE, organized by medienkunstverein.com and Literaturhaus Berlin, curated by Manja Ebert, Tina Sauerländer and Peggy Schoenegge in 2018.

The exhibition includes a world premiere by Lorna Mills as well as 6 North American and 3 Canadian premieres.

Photos by Henry Chan.