Kunsthal Charlottenborg's New Group Show Explores the 'Poetics of Encryption'

Much of the world’s shopping, banking, entertainment and social interactions occur online. Yet, the mechanisms that underpin these tools remain largely unknown to many, argues Copenhagen’s Kunsthal Charlottenborg. The institution’s latest group show, Poetics of Encryption, explores the dark underbelly of society’s digital dependency and how these ominous forces are able to shape collective moods and cultural narratives.

Curated by Nadim Samma, author of Poetics of Encryption. Art and the Technocene., the exhibition presents multi-media works from 38 international artists, including Trevor Paglen, Carsten Nicolai, Émilie Brout and Maxime Marion. Like Samma’s introspective survey, the art on view probes into encryption as a technical process and a metaphor for the Technocene, in which information is mysteriously shielded and controlled.

Standout works on view include Eva and Franco Mattes’ Panorama Cat (2022), an elongated taxidermy imitation of an eight-legged tabby cat, which brings to life the “panorama fails” internet phenomenon. Elsewhere, Émilie Brout and Maxime Marion are showcasing acts α and β of their animated musical IDLE, which imagines an AI entity reaching singularity, reflecting on the “mechanisms, biases and strategies inherent in AI and, more broadly, techno-capitalism,” said the artists.

Centered around what Samma explains as “Black Sites”, “Black Boxes”, and “Black Holes” — the book and artwork on view illuminate how “systems capture users, how they work in stealth, and how they distort cultural space-time,” wrote Kunsthal Charlottenborg.

For those in Copenhagen, the exhibition will open on September 28 and run through January 12, 2025.

Kunsthal Charlottenborg
Nyhavn 2, 1051
København, Denmark

Exhibiting Artists:

Nora Al-Badri
Moreshin Allahyari
Emmanuel Van der Auwera
Gillian Brett
Émilie Brout & Maxime Marion
Nanna Debois Buhl
Julian Charrière
Joshua Citarella
Clusterduck
Juan Covelli
Kate Crawford
Sterling Crispin
Simon Denny
enorê
Mathias Gramoso
Jürgen Mayer H.
Roger Hiorns
Tilman Hornig
Vladan Joler
Daniel Keller
Andrea Khôra
Jonna Kina
Kristian Kragelund
Juliana Cerqueira Leite
Eva & Franco Mattes
Carsten Nicolai
Simone C Niquille
Trevor Paglen
Matthias Planitzer
Jon Rafman
Rachel Rossin
Sebastian Schmieg
Charles Stankievech
Most Dismal Swamp
Troika
Nico Vascellari