UBERMORGEN. No Limit

The Kasseler Kunstverein is pleased to present No Limit, an exhibition of new works by UBERMORGEN. No Limit describes the hypothesis that mankind is under serious threat from the dark triad of Machiavellianism, psychopathy and malignant narcissism. These threats are given shape in a comprehensive sequence of individual portraits, videos, installations and text objects relating to the story of a dysfunctional family. Through research into family histories and dynamics, UBERMORGEN mined the black secrets and white lies, turning them into an alarming family portrait which combines fictionalized truth and distorted fiction.

 Black Ink, a bathtub filled with black ink connects to Glowing Dysfunction, a barren fridge filled with bottles of black ink instead of milk. Seven Amazon Kindle readers stripped to their electronic components make up Family Saga, storing the individual stories in perpetuity. Blütenweisser Raum is an installation based on a living room, featuring everything but actual depictions of the narcissistic mother and the psychopath father. The video installation Nice Vanilla Latte portrays the American mass-murderer Elliot Rodger—the young killer responsible for six deaths at the University of California in 2014—while Infirmiere Visiteuse presents the spider-like grandmother of the clan. Throughout the show, UBERMORGEN uses the traditional art form of the fairytale, a form particularly relevant to Kassel, hometown of legendary storytellers The Grimm Brothers. The artists scripted the texts and essays that are included in their installations and accompany their work. The site-specific exhibition uses the architecture of the Museum Fridericianum as a character in the story, created and abused to manufacture a place for psychoactive reflection and subliminal sensation of distress and disturbance. The simulacrum turns out to be real, a true horror story.

 Work by internationally renowned contemporary art and digital avant-garde artist duo UBERMORGEN (founded 1999) is also currently on view at the ICA Miami. They have recently exhibited at the Kunsthal Aarhus, Carroll/Fletcher, London, FACT Liverpool, SIGGRAPH Los Angeles, Museum für angewandte Kunst Frankfurt, and PS1 MoMA, and were commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art and Serpentine Galleries. UBERMORGEN has an extensive portfolio with over 20 major projects, including Vote-Auction (2000), the EKMRZ Trilogy (2005-2009), Superenhanced (2008), Somali Pirate Fashion (2009), Deephorizon (2010), Asylum Defence Agency (2011), Ziron (2014) and Chinese Coin (2015). No Limit is part of their Psychos Cycle (2005–), an ongoing research project into the depth of our minds, our mental institutions, and the world beyond sanity. In 2014, UBERMORGEN began playing professional poker on Pokerstars (usernames: viennazombie and lizvlx) and in live games (EPT).

 No Limit is curated by Michelle Kasprzak, a curator and writer based in Amsterdam. Michelle has held curatorial roles at V2_ Institute for Unstable Media, the Dutch Electronic Art Festival (DEAF), and New Media Scotland. She is also an avid weightlifter with personal records of 85kg squat, 52.5 bench press, and 90kg deadlift.

 The Kasseler Kunstverein was founded in 1835 as an independent forum to promote and impart contemporary art. The annual program consists of four major exhibitions by national and international artists and is curated, developed and produced by an honorary board. Today the Kunstverein, with its 500 square meters of exhibition space in the renowned Museum Fridericianum, offers artists a unique ground for experimentation. A companion e-book, No Limit, will be published on Amazon KDP and released as a download. All materials, text, videos, exhibition photos and the e-book are available on the exhibition website that you visit here. (from the press release)