Kaugummi im Motherboard 2.0
Kaugummi im Motherboard 2.0 curated by Katya Quel at Gr_und, Berlin.
In an era defined by relentless technological acceleration, Kaugummi im Motherboard delves into the psyche of a generation shaped by hyper-connectivity, Youtube-DIY ingenuity, as well as the systemic collapse. The title itself offers a poignant metaphor: the humble act of fixing a complex machine with chewing gum—a naïve yet earnest gesture of repair. This symbolic effort highlights both the vulnerability and resilience of human creativity when confronting overwhelming challenges. Choosing the motherboard as a central metaphor elevates this act into a meditation on care and origins: the computer’s core as a maternal figure, nurturing and foundational, yet fragile and requiring our stewardship.
The artists in this exhibition respond to the fragmentation of contemporary life through glitched aesthetics, speculative environments, and a fusion of nostalgia with invention. Their works are not utopias in the traditional sense but rather layered fantasies: expressions of escape, critique, and the search for alternative modes of being. Employing digital fantasies, modified robotics, and underground culture, these creators reveal the contradictions of life post-internet, oscillating between exuberant experimentation and a critical reckoning with a capitalist system that often feels inescapable.
This dynamic results in works that refuse binaries—retreat versus resistance, destruction versus creation—embracing instead the chaotic beauty of their in-between spaces. In doing so, Kaugummi im Motherboard captures the ethos of a generation that is both burdened by systemic failures and energized by the potential of speculative futures.
Amidst a landscape dominated by institutional gatekeeping and entrenched systems of funding and recognition, Kaugummi im Motherboard positions itself as a radically inclusive gesture. Emerging from an open call that embraced the majority of its applicants, this project represents a collective experiment—a curatorial initiative sustained without the backing of state or private funding. Its independence becomes both a challenge and a strength, embracing openness, collaboration, and creative freedom as central tenets.
Imagine a motherboard, its circuits humming with the essential functions of a world we depend on. Suddenly, something falters—a crack, a break in the seamless network of connections. In a world obsessed with speed, growth, perfection, and wealth, the failure feels catastrophic. And yet, a piece of chewing gum—cheap, humble, temporary, imperfect—is pressed into place, bridging the gap. It’s a stopgap measure, but for a moment, it holds.
"Kaugummi im Motherboard" is both metaphor and call to action: a vision of a future where small, human acts of repair resist the suffocating dominance of rigid systems. Its manifesto rejects the cold sterility of the white cube art world, with its lifeless minimalism and exclusionary arrogance. Instead, it demands a multi-layered, inclusive space where many voices converge, where each inch of space is imbued with meaning and value.
We remember. Memories persist in the belief that the internet, once a tool of liberation, could decentralize governments and foster a global democracy. We held the same fragile hopes for crypto—a dream of an unshackled, equitable economy. The gum teaches us to hope anew, this time not for grand revolutions but for the power of collective action, however imperfect.
ARTISTS
32
Babak Ahteshamipour
Irene Mathilda Alaimo
Anna Alexanina
James Beatham
Claudia Lode & Livia Bertacca
Safia Boulmenadjel
Italia Bruno
Xristina Sarli & Augusto Calçada
Pavel Checkulaev
Linus Clostermann
Trevor Coopersmith
Sally Craven
Tristan Cubero
Darina Dash
Glenn De Cock
Lina Deng
Chaney Manshu Diao
Philipp Dollinger
Nick Koppenhagen & Carina Erdmann
Kian Ghassemi
Dimitris Gkikas
Ramona Gomez
Raphaël Moreira Gonçalves
Pedro Gossler
Franziska Harnisch
Nathan Harper
Erika Rustamova & James Bendandi & Lu Hauhia
Jan Herdlicka
Ana Ionescu
Anna Kulik
Agata Lankamer
Jung Min Lee
Mano Leyrado
Lilu
Lola Machabert
Miha Majes
Marlon Nicolaisen
Char O'dair-Gadler
Franziska Ostermann
Carolina Ovando
Jakub Pohludka
Dominik Dragos Pohludka
Marlene Post
Alexis Puget
Katya Quel
Rizal N Ramadhan
Una Raneta
Emanuele Resce
Francesca Rinaldi
Anja Ripoll
Lara Rocho
Maria Romanova
Salt Salome
Raiko Sánchez
Alicia Santamaria
Aisha Ramm & Pauline Sepp
Leon Simonis
Janosch Sinn
Soff
Kuba Stępień
Jody Surfs
Lucca Süss
Johannes Thiel
Pedro Tinôco
Maxim Tur
David Varhegyi
Amy J Wilson
Brennan Wojtyła
Yuehan Yang
Teo Shi Yun
Filippo Zimmermann
