May Your Dream Come

Dreams appear both at night and during the day and have always accompanied man and his existence. They lead him to explore limits and dare the impossible, but they can also instill fear, blind and promote recklessness. In a world where visions have become rare and some utopias have proved unrealizable, dreams have not disappeared from the scene. The exhibition title seems to convey the message of an approaching change. It tells of an imminent dream that is not yet fully articulated and present. The exhibition sees itself as an invitation to let dreams come and grow. All three artists deal with the theme of dreaming in different ways in their work: whether it is the dream of being able to play freely with different identities, to believe in overcoming transience, or to deal with longings that can also become a burden. In doing so, they make use of the latest digital possibilities, which they incorporate into their art. Marius Steiger uses 3D visualizations as models for his paintings. And both Jennifer Merlyn Scherler and Till Langschied take a critical look at the Internet and its ambivalence in an artistic way. What all three artists have in common is an unrestrained curiosity to examine their surroundings and an openness to admit dreams and follow them.

Machwerk:
The exhibition is accompanied by a parallel show of works by artists from Machwerk Liestal, an association for social psychiatry. Also under the guideline of dreaming, they will create new works for the Kunsthalle Palazzo.

Till Langschied:
Till Langschied works as a visual artist with different media and is also active as a curator. In 2019 Till Langschied founded the independent art space "Pleasure Zone" and since 2021 he curates the satellite exhibition program of the art and archive space "DOCK" in Basel. In his artistic exploration, he is interested in the increasingly digital reality and how it influences our mental state and what traces it leaves on our bodies. He is concerned with the interaction of man with his technological environment and its change over time. For example, he deals with digital images that lie dormant, almost forgotten, on old servers. In doing so, he asks himself how this digital "garbage" can be reused and given a contemporary interpretation. Or he uses the mythological figure of Tantalus, punished by the gods, who tries to reach for fruit and water but can never reach them. Tantalus figures as a symbol for the exploitation of natural resources necessary for digital devices and for the unfulfilled desires we place on our technological environment. Till Langschied shows that the digital promise opens up perspectives and visions, but can also be a burden and a burden.

Jennifer Merlyn Scherler:
Using a variety of media, Jennifer Merlyn Scherler's artistic work addresses topics such as gender fluidity, pop cultural phenomena, identity issues, power structures and exclusion mechanisms. There is a great interest in the exploration of the internet and the stereotypes and power structures manifested therein, which are cemented by the algorithms applied. Groups that are outside the mainstream are not adequately represented in this seemingly open and democratic space and are subject to repressive platform policies. The cultural dominance and hegemonic claims present in analog culture find their counterpart in digital space. They are repeated and often even multiplied. The hope that the Internet could give everyone an equal voice and stand for a social opening has proven to be an illusion. Scherler examines these systems of power and exclusion mechanisms in a media-critical manner and reflects on strategies of how inadequately represented groups create a voice and visibility for themselves. Scherler creates fantasy worlds enriched with pop cultural set pieces, in which they themselves appear in different identities. In various roles, Scherler reflects on modes of behavior and representation and examines how changing shells influence appearance and outward perception. Scherler uses formats such as video, text, photography, sound and lecture-performances and realizes their interventions in analog as well as digital space.

They and their are gender-neutral pronouns borrowed from English. Jennifer Merlyn Scherler is a non-binary person.

Marius Steiger:
London-based artist Marius Steiger's work explores the discrepancy between nature and artificiality and the human dream of eternal life. He uses painting as well as small-format objects that are deliberately placed in spatial arrangements. In his most recent show presented in London, floating fruits and flowers can be seen on two-tone monochrome surfaces. These seem to be cut out and are placed collage-like on the spatially undefined color surfaces. The colors used are based on nature, but are glossy and without any irregularity. The signs of transience that often appear in the tradition of still life painting, such as slightly rotting fruit or insects, have given way to a flawless surface. In one painting, a butterfly has mingled with the fruits and flowers, taking part in the colorful round dance without, however, hinting at the impending decay. The longing for immortality is palpable, even though the butterfly's carefree flight could end at any time. Marius Steiger realizes his images on the basis of digital 3D visualizations. By not directly orienting himself on nature or existing objects, but taking the detour via digitally generated replicas, he consciously employs artificiality. The irregularity inherent in nature or the patina of objects in use is deliberately left out of the equation. The paintings are oriented towards objects that show no traces of time and consumption. With the immaculately painted surfaces, the intactness and immaculateness, the works stand as a projection surface for dreams and longings.

The exhibition is generously supported by: Cultural Promotion of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft, Hans and Renée Müller-Meylan Foundation, City of Liestal, Kulturhaus Palazzo AG, C. and A. Kupper Foundation and BLKB Foundation Culture & Education.


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.