FROM BITS TO PAPER: A short history of the aesthetics of rematerialization

Abstract

This article is inspired by From bits to Paper, a group exhibition I have curated at Le Shadok, a center for arts and digital creation in Strasbourg, from the 8th Mars to the 5th June 2016. The exhibition addressed the complex and dualistic relationship between digital and physical worlds, displaying a selection of contemporary artworks that explore the clash between these two worlds. The artworks presented invert the agenda of most designers, and the remediation processes they use to develop contemporary interfaces through the use of de-contextualisation and rematerialization tactics. As designers work hard in creating sexy and smooth interfaces that connect physical and digital worlds, they tend to obfuscate their inner-processes. By displacing Google pins, tweets, GPS traces and other native objects from the digital to the physical world, these objects become present-at-hand, losing their operational status. In other words, these familiar though intriguing rematerializations become available to contemplation but we are unable to use them. Despite the literal, humorous and sometimes absurd traits found in some of these rematerializations, a closer appraisal might disclose interesting thoughts on how digital interfaces are modelling our perception, memory, privacy, but also the dreams of the algorithms and how these are challenging and re-organizing our interactions and physical spaces.

The article will focus on the recent history of rematerialization as aesthetic trend, by analysing the work of some of the most prominent and proliferous artists such as Aram Bartholl, Clement Valla, Metahaven, Space Invader, James Bridle, Darko Fritz or Jan Robert Leegte. Several themes have been identified amongst the different artistic practices and they all seem to resonate with some ideas explored by Marcel Duchamp. In this sense, the final section of the article presents a speculative view on how recent rematerializations can be seen as updated ready-mades from the digital age.