The Manege, Central Exhibition Hall, 1 Isaakiyevskaya Ploshchad
St. Petersburg
16 July 16th, 2021—October 10th, 2021
In the New Nature project, created especially for Manege, Recycle Group analyses the transformation of human personality under the influence of modern technology.
The world is currently in the midst of global changes, and whether or not people are physically present with one another is becoming less important. Using new technologies and machine learning, a person is now capable of living an almost full life virtually. These days the connection between human and machine is a key element in the development of civilization, and we are currently in the process of laying the foundations of the philosophy surrounding it. Each one of us is adding their data to the new world every day, and almost all of this information is being saved and has value.
The exhibition invites us to simultaneously experience both the terrifying and attractive aspects of living in a cybernetic dream, where technology is not seen in the context of development and progress. We encounter the great Nothing, an ideally empty space that contains within itself everything that can exist and that is necessary for eternal virtual life. We learn about the ideas of digital cleanliness and environmentalism. We get answers to our questions about the digital prophet, who knows everything about us. We have an even deeper experience of being bodiless, and the promises of virtual eternity become even clearer. We also uncover the system’s biggest fear – being unplugged and without any lines of communication.
It has taken two years to prepare this show at the Manege, and in the meantime the project’s central idea has undergone multiple transformations before taking its current, final shape. The exhibition spotlights the artists’ interactive sculptures and dynamic art objects that turn viewers into participants in a virtual performance.
The project’s website: https://eng.recyclexmanege.com/ – has become the virtual dimension of the exhibition and the main portal into the futuristic world of Recycle Group. What have inspired the artists? What codes are hidden in their art? What’s happening at Recycle’s studio and at the Manege? The website is regularly updated with new audio-visual content. There you can journey through the world of the Recycle Group (from their studio in Paris, to Krasnodar, and back to the exhibition in St. Petersburg); talk with the artists; find information on Manege’s lectures and events accompanying the exhibition; get an expanded version of the list of films, music, and books that inspired Recycle; and see what is happening at the Manege in real time.
Photos by Irina Kolpachnikova
Publications:
Art Focus Now. Technocratic Renaissance: a Recycle Group and their digital religion
CLOT. Exhibition: ‘New Nature’ by Recycle Group at Manege Central Exhibition Hall St Petersburg
DSCENE. Recycle Group’s New Nature Exhibition at Manege St. Petersburg
The Moscow Times. The Art Group Recycle Works Between the Virtual and the Real
