Passing Data—Upcycling the Digital

Artists: Veneta Androva, Raphaël Bastide, Bruno Gola, Kathrin Hunze, Yehwan Song, Shinji Toya.

Prater Digital presents the online exhibition Passing Data—Upcycling the Digital, which explores experimental approaches to junk data. It is the third part of the annual program COPY PASTE WASTE in Prater Digital.

The six artists Veneta Androva, Raphaël Bastide, Bruno Gola, Kathrin Hunze, Yehwan Song, and Shinji Toya were invited to test upcycling as a speculative method for the reutilization of old data. They searched for data that they no longer needed on their computers, cloud servers, or hard drives. In tandem, two artists respectively swapped images, fonts, videos, sounds, or code and incorporated these elements into their own artistic practice. They embedded the files in their ongoing projects, made room for them, or used them as inspiration for new ideas. The curators Tereza Havlíková and Katharina von Hagenow challenged the artists to probe into the unknown and to explore the upcycling principle as a speculative artistic strategy in relation to digital resources.

The new works created specifically for the exhibition examine junk data and its impact on the environment. With them, the artists developed novel images that shine light on the hidden materials of the internet and tell stories of mindful digital coexistence. In doing so, they engage with the question of how we want to shape a digital space in which everyone can participate, today and in the future.

The exhibition is part of COPY PASTE WASTE, an interdisciplinary year-long program by Prater Digital at the municipal Prater Gallery. COPY PASTE WASTE draws attention to the overproduction of digital data and aims to develop models for a mindful approach to the digital sphere—at home, at work, in the cultural sector, and in artistic practices. The year-long program consists of three modules:

I: expert talks
Scientists, activists, and artists examine the environmental impact of digital applications, the interdependence of political and social issues, and the sustainable use of knowledge. The video recording of expert talks can be found online here.

II: network meetings
Prater Digital initiated a network of cultural actors to reflect jointly on digital work and production processes. The results of the network meetings with Pylon lab, Bilderbewegen e.V., Peer to Space, nextmuseum.io, Hebbel am Ufer HAU 4, Off Site Project, Gallery Climate Coalition Berlin, and Screen Saver Gallery will be assembled in a collective Wiki to make this knowledge accessible in the long term. The release date will be announced here.

III: art swaps
As an artistic experiment, six artists use upcycling as a speculative method in relation to digital resources. The creative process and the results are presented in Passing Data—Upcycling the Digital.

A project by Prater Digital, curated by Tereza Havlíková and Katharina von Hagenow.
Artistic and Managing Director Prater Galerie: Lena Prents.

The Prater Galerie Berlin is a communal, non-commercial space for the presentation and mediation of contemporary art projects. Its program focuses on socio-political issues from artistic and curatorial perspectives. Prater Digital is an integral part of the gallery. By working on cross-cutting themes and interfaces in the field of new technologies, as well as digital artistic practices and mediation methods, Prater Digital makes the increasing influence of digitalization visible to the general public and engages with it critically.

COPY PASTE WASTE in Prater Digital is kindly supported by the Bezirkskulturfonds (BKF), the Fonds Ausstellungsvergütungen für bildende Künstler:innen (FABiK), the Ausstellungsfonds Kommunale Galerien (KoGa) of the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion, and the E.ON Foundation.

For information on further events please visit Prater Galerie. Press and public relations: Carola Uehlken, carola.uehlken [​at​] prater.digital.