press information thomas feuerstein psychoprosa

PRESS INFORMATION
THOMAS FEUERSTEIN
PSYCHOPROSA
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7 March – 10 May 2015
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Opening: Fri, 6 March 2015, 7 pm
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Press conference: Thurs, 5 March 2015, 10 am
In his exhibition PSYCHOPROSA, Austrian artist Thomas Feuerstein (*1968 in Innsbruck, lives in
Vienna) employs biochemical processes as a means of artistic expression and creates an installation
at the interface of art and a natural scientific experimental set-up. He transforms the rooms of the
Galerie im Taxispalais into a coherent ensemble of greenhouse, laboratory, cooling chamber and
factory. Linked by pipes, the apparatuses and objects seem like active protagonists: inside glass
sculptures, substances are transformed by invisible laboratory assistants, refrigerators open and close
as if inspired by demons or ghosts, and transparent threads of slime drip from extensive, vitreous
installations.
Thomas Feuerstein works using media such as sculpture and installation as well as graphic art,
painting, photography and net art, creating multilayered references to biology, the philosophy of
science, economics, and cultural history in the process. His artistic production is characterised by
engagement with a wide spectrum of theories and their aesthetic assimilation. He uses natural
scientific methods to interlock the factual and the fictive in his processual installations, deconstructing
scientific explanatory models' claims to truth and prompting new contexts of meaning. Chemicalphysical processes become metaphors of social structures; ideas from classical philosophy combine
with phenomena from today's highly technological world in the field of research DAIMONOLOGY,
developed by Feuerstein.
The exhibition in the Galerie im Taxispalais links new works and some older pieces never exhibited in
the Tyrol before in order to produce a very specific narrative. The installative works are supplemented
by graphic art and an audio play, which open up additional space for interpretation. At the beginning
we find a greenhouse in which algae and fungi are cultivated. These organic materials are pumped
into glass sculptures, where a synthetic hallucinogen is generated through a chemical process: the
resulting molecule is PSILAMIN, which has never occurred before in a natural context. The remaining
biomass of the algae and funghi is a slimy material, which develops a viscous consistency after
heating, cooling and mixing: thick threads and veils form a transparent, liquid sculpture. If we were to
consume the ‛molecular sculpture’ PSILAMIN, solid objects would deliquesce and begin to flow in our
perception. In this way the psychotropic effect of the hallucinogenic substance ‒ which the exhibition
visitor does not experience but can only imagine ‒ is reflected in the exhibition as a real process.
Crossing and confusing the borderlines between our inner and external worlds is a central aspect of
Feuerstein's PSYCHOPROSA. The slime that permeates the entire exhibition in a real as well as a
thematic sense refers, on the one hand, to horror fiction and one of its early masters, H. P. Lovecraft
(1890–1937); on the other hand it highlights – as a social metaphor – questions regarding the
definition of the individual and the dissolution of social boundaries.
In cooperation with the Frankfurter Kunstverein and the Kunstverein Heilbronn
Catalogue
Texts (Germ./Engl.) by Beate Ermacora, Thomas Feuerstein, Jürgen Tabor and a conversation
between Graham Harman and Thomas Feuerstein
200 pages, numerous colour illustrations; Snoeck Verlag, Köln Cologne 2015
Lecture
Thurs, March 12, 2015, 7 pm
Graham Harman, Distinguished University Professor, American University, Cairo
The Aesthetic Future of Philosophy
Lecture in English
Catalogue presentation and artist’s talk
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Wednesday, April 22 2015, 7 pm
Thomas Feuerstein in conversation with Dr. Beate Ermacora and Ass.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Seppi,
Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Innsbruck
Maria-Theresien-Straße 45 6020 Innsbruck Austria T +43 512 508 3171 F 508 74 3175
USt-Id.Nr. (VAT-No.): ATU 3697 0505
email: [email protected]
www.galerieimtaxispalais.at
BIOGRAPHY THOMAS FEUERSTEIN
1968
born in Innsbruck, lives and works in Vienna
1987–95
studied art history and philosophy at the University of Innsbruck, doctorate
Since 1997 lectureships and visiting professorships at the University for Applied Arts Vienna, the Bern
University of the Arts, the F+F School of Art and Media Design Zurich, the FH Vorarlberg
– University of Applied Sciences, the Mozarteum University of Salzburg and the
University of Innsbruck
Awards
2006
2010
2013
RLB Kunstpreis
Tiroler Landespreis für zeitgenössische Kunst
33. Österreichischer Grafikwettbewerb, Preis der Landeshauptstadt Innsbruck
Solo exhibitions (selection)
2015
PSYCHOPROSA, Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck; Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt
am Main; Kunstverein Heilbronn, Heilbronn
2014
PANCREAS, Galerija Kapelica, Ljubljana
2013
FUTUR II, Kunstraum Bernsteiner, Vienna
2012
CANDYLAB, Kunsthalle Krems, Krems
2011
POEM., 401contemporary, Berlin
2010
where deathless horses weep, Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman, Innsbruck
2009
DAIMON, Kunstverein Augsburg, Augsburg
2008
Soylent Green, Galerie Kampl, Munich
2007
Trickster. Politiker, Dämonen, Parasiten, Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum,
Innsbruck
2005
Focus Utopia, Galerie Lelong, Zurich
2003
fiat::radikale individuen – soziale genossen II, Leopold Museum, Vienna
Group exhibitions (selection)
2013
33. Österreichischer Grafikwettbewerb, Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck
CyberArts 2013, OK – Offenes Kulturhaus im Oberösterreichischen Kulturquartier, Linz
2012
BIOS. Konzepte des Lebens in der zeitgenössischen Skulptur, Georg Kolbe Museum,
Berlin
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2011
4 Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow
Declining Democracy, Palazzo Strozzi, Centro di Cultura Contemporanea Strozzina,
Florence
2009/10
Eating the Universe – Vom Essen in der Kunst, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf;
Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck; Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Stuttgart (under the title Eat
Art)
2009
CELLA. Strukturen der Ausgrenzung und Disziplinierung, Complesso Monumentale di
San Michele a Ripa, Rome
2007
Übergangsräume – Potential Spaces, Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart, Stuttgart
AUSZEIT. Kunst und Nachhaltigkeit / Timeout. Art and Sustainability, Kunstmuseum
Liechtenstein, Vaduz
Die Dämonen, Magazin4 – Bregenzer Kunstverein, Bregenz
2006
Feine.Radikale, MuseumsQuartier Wien, Vienna
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12 International Festival of Computer Arts, Moderna galerija, Ljubljana
2005/06
Postmediale Konditionen, Neue Galerie am Joanneum, Graz; Medialab Madrid, Centro
Cultural Conde Duque, Madrid
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2002
Sónar 2002 – 9 International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art, Barcelona
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2001
24 International Biennial of Graphic Arts (Information – Misinformation / Offbiennale),
Ljubljana
Gefesselt – Entfesselt. Österreichische Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts, Galeria Zachęta –
State Gallery of Art, Warsaw
1996
Jenseits von Kunst, Ludwig Múzeum, Budapest; MuHKA – Museum van Hedendaagse
Kunst, Antwerp; Neue Galerie Graz, Graz
1995
Falsch verbunden, Kunsthaus Hamburg, Hamburg
1993
Genetische Kunst – Künstliches Leben, Ars Electronica 1993, Linz
Maria-Theresien-Straße 45 6020 Innsbruck Austria T +43 512 508 3171 F 508 74 3175
USt-Id.Nr. (VAT-No.): ATU 3697 0505
email: [email protected]
www.galerieimtaxispalais.at

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