An amazing exhibition we would highly recommend visiting is at arbyte gallery. It’s a collaborative effort by Lawrence Lek and Kode 9 called Nøtel. The installation itself is an amazing spectacle; at the centre of the gallery four screens hang from a black metal structure placed in an Ø-shaped pit, outlined in green neon tubing. Two of these screens are attached to video-gaming consoles, the other two to virtual-reality headsets, each offering a different method of navigating the digital rendering of the Nøtel. Architectural drawings of the building (itself an Ø shape) are hung on columns, and an edited ‘trailer’ for the Nøtel is projected on to a larger screen on the back. The video is narrated by two robotic voices reciting the company’s ‘CEØ statement’ – also printed on a nearby wall: ‘Nøtel Corporation is proud to present our first marketing suite for the Nøtel, our flagship range of zero-star™ hotels that embody the concept of fully-automated luxury.’ It’s a truly stunning sight.
Another show worth checking out is a new one at Auto Italia titled “Sister said to Satan: my diary is too hot for you”. There’s a variety of material; texts, posters, and four moving image works. Everything is exploring the allure of gods and legends, alternative belief systems and healing rituals, as well as trans-national tourism and ideas of destiny. The works also engage with the destructive forces of late capitalism on the body and city: from mental disorders that rupture and realign the self, to the intense depression and recession that tear apart the fabric of the city. This juxtaposition is treated half in reverie and half critically, producing a surreal exhibition where fact and fiction melt together in the heat, and remain unhinged in time and place.
