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Insane in the Membrane

Place: Philara Collection, Düsseldorf

Date: -

Artists: Rebekka Benzenberg, Isabella Fürnkäs, Simon Fujiwara, Vivian Greven, Jens Kothe, Oliver Laric, Hannah Levy, Anna Virnich, Raphaela Vogel

Curated by: Katharina Klang

Works: Insomnia Drawings

The membrane refers to a separating layer, with its etymological roots in the Latin word membrāna (thin skin). Our skin serves as a physical boundary between the inner and outer world, offering protection from environmental influences as well as functioning in representation and communication. In this role, the face is a particularly important indicator of our emotional state and personal expression. Every touch perceived through the skin contains the origin of human contact and exchange.

In "In the Swarm. Views of the Digital", philosopher Byung-Chul Han identifies a paradigm shift in our communication structures and perception brought about by digitalization. As a result, he argues, content becomes flattened, narcissism is fostered, and the notion of the "other" dissolves. “The digital medium robs communication of tactility and physicality.”

How do artists perceive this supposed loss of the tactile? How do they engage with forms of sensitivity, surface, and skin? Insane in the membrane presents works by eight artists born between the early and late 1980s — the last generation before the emergence of “digital natives.”

A private atlas of vulnerability and physical self-awareness build the eruptive drawings of Isabella Fürnkäs. Her picture medium, consisting of pages ripped out of sketchbooks, become fragile membranes, which convey the sensibility of the producer. The semi transparent, partially torn pages carry traces of coquetry and self-assertion and shimmer between absurd humour and vulnerability. Every gesture leads to an extreme. Fürnkäs’ graphical monologue whirl addresses a counterpart which stays anonymous. 

- Text by Katharina Klang

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