Beyond Matter, Within Space. Curatorial and Art Mediation Techniques on the Verge of Virtual Reality

The publication Beyond Matter, Within Space. Curatorial and Art Mediation Techniques on the Verge of Virtual Reality marks the end of the practice-based research and cooperation project Beyond Matter (2019–2023). Across six chapters, this book offers a comprehensive overview of the multifaceted research activities conducted over the course of the project and takes a deeper look at the enfoldments of virtual reality. In interviews, scholarly essays, and other texts, the authors document the project outcomes and expand on its theoretical foundations.

Beyond Matter engaged with the contemporary shift that is influencing the production and mediation of visual art within the institutional frameworks of modern and contemporary art museums. This noticeable shift is largely attributable to the rapid development, ubiquitous presence, and employment of computation and information technology. More specifically, the increased use of augmented and virtual reality, as well as artificial intelligence.

Exhibition spaces are physical places of knowledge production and exchange, and their spatial properties are central to contextualizing information harbored within the artworks they present. In virtual models of exhibitions, immersion is not bound to geographical location but to the interplay between materiality and representation. Beyond Matter aimed to make sense of the interdependence between physical and virtual and to decipher the impact of that interdependence on the spatial aspects of producing, curating, and mediating art. In exploring the so-called virtual condition, the project proposed new modes for preserving cultural heritage while probing the potentials of digital world-making.

Led by ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, the Beyond Matter project enjoyed the partnership of organizations and institutions from around and beyond Europe. Varying in scale and areas of specialization, these institutions share an interest in the novel use of digital technologies through which to reach non-local audiences, digitally expand exhibition spaces, and to create hybrid access to such spaces. The revival of past exhibitions and the innovative documentation of current exhibitions – both materially and immaterially—were central undertakings in this shared objective.

The collaborators comprised of researchers and curators from Aalto University, Espoo; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Ludwig Múzeum—Kortárs Művészeti Múzeum (Ludwig Museum—Museum of Contemporary Art), Budapest; Tallinna Kunstihoone (Tallinn Art Hall); Tirana Art Lab—Center for Contemporary Art.

Associated partners included: EPFL Pavilions, Lausanne; HAWK—University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Hildesheim, GIM Gesellschaft für Innovative Marktforschung mbH, Heidelberg, and Bio Design Lab at Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (HfG).

Beyond Matter, Within Space is edited by Lívia Nolasco-Rózsás, (head of project at ZKM | Karlsruhe), with Marianne Schädler (ZKM | Karlsruhe). Publishing and distribution: Hatje Cantz. 

Texts by: Paul Aguraiuja, Ali Akbar Mehta, Kristaps Ancāns, Corina L. Apostol, Constança Babo, Amanda Beech, Philippe Bettinelli, Giulia Bini, Beatrice von Bismarck, Zach Blas, Enrico Boccioletti, Andreas Broeckmann, Janine Burger, Julie Champion Lagadec, Donika Çina, Ami Clarke, Annet Dekker, Adela Demetja, Lily Díaz-Kommonen, Krischan Ditsch, Dennis Dizon, Jan Elantkowski, Irmgard Emmelhainz, Elena Esposito, Fruzsina Feigl, Jazmina Figueroa, Bernard Dionysius Geoghegan, Marialaura Ghidini, Jiří Gruber, Esteban Gutiérrez-Jiménez, Graham Harman, Kai-Uwe Hemken, Hanna Hildebrand, Yannick Hofmann, HUNITI GOLDOX, Johanna Jolen Kuzmenko, Borbála Kálmán, Helen Kaplinsky, Carolyn Kirschner, Sebastian Klein, Felix Koberstein, Bogna Konior, Moritz Konrad, Sybille Krämer, Laura Kuusk, Olson Lamaj, Camille Laurelli, Marcella Lista, Anna Longo, Elen Lotman, Mauro Martino, Cvijeta Miljak, Daria Mille, Felix Mittelberger, Lívia Nolasco-Rózsás, Elena Papadaki, Christiane Paul, Valentina Peri, Anastasia Philimonos, Theodoulos Polyviou, Siim Preiman, Cecilia Preiß, The Rodina, Simon Schneebiegl, Beatrix Szörényi, Gaia Tedone, Amanda Tristão Parra, Annette Urban, Marie Vicet, Alexander Walmsley, Kim West, Siegfried Zielinski.

Interviews with: Enrico Boccioletti, Beatrice von Bismarck, Zach Blas, Janine Burger, Donika Çina, Ami Clarke, Dennis Dizon, Jazmina Figueroa, HUNITI GOLDOX, Hanna Hildebrand, Carolyn Kirschner, Olson Lamaj, Valentina Peri, Theodoulos Polyviou, The Rodina, Beatrix Szörényi, Alexander Walmsley