The eternal in the now: the real thing? Reality, Copies, Prosthetics – Mark Leckey, “UniAddDumThs” (2014–ongoing)

For years, British artist Mark Leckey has been collecting objects depicted on the internet, which he calls ‘dumb things’: digital images of archaic relics, artworks and visionary machines, which he then borrows and exhibits in “The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things.” In digitalization, addressability means the possibility of connection between certain electronic devices. Using a wide variety of techniques (from 3-D printing to photo reproduction), Leckey created “copies” of al the objects—resulting in the refreshingly ambiguous, surreal, humorous exhibition artwork “UniAddDumThs,” the cryptic abbreviation of the aforementioned title. What is “The Real Thing” (Henry James)? The object itself or its “copy”? What position do technologies and the internet occupy in this network of relationships with people and reality? And what aura of the copies make them seem truer than reality?

With Dr. Angela Opel, art historian, and Dr. Norbert Roth, pastor, St. Matthäus München

Music: Armin Becker, organ