Kategorie: Ausstellung

TRANSHUMAN N°4
Nieves de la Fuente
Xenoform

curated by Stephan Klee

Vernissage
Saturday, 8 August 5 pm
Open until 8 pm
(No admission fee)

Duration
9 Aug – 4 Oct 2026
Tue – Sun 11 am – 5 pm

Location
Altes Rathaus Göttingen (1. OG)
Markt 9
37073 Göttingen

Admission fee:
€ 3,00 / € 1,50 (reduced)
Free admission for guests aged 18 and under
Free admission with a Kultur Ticket
Free admission to exhibition Vernissages and Finissages

INTRODUCTION

‘We believe there is no material problem – whether caused by nature or technology – that cannot be solved by more technology!’*

If the technological utopian visions of transhumanism are to enter a phase of widespread realisation in the foreseeable future, certain plans devised by the heads of leading American technology conglomerates will play a decisive role. There is broad consensus amongst them that space should be colonised as quickly as possible in order to meet the demands of rising production using extraterrestrial resources. Earth’s resources are finite; a new race has begun, only this time the motto is not ‘Go West!’, but rather ‘Go Mars!’. As a result, commercial spaceflight is taking on a new key role in driving forward an agenda of expansive, private technological implementation; Elon Musk with ‘SpaceX’ and ‘Starlink’, and Jeff Bezos with ‘Blue Origin’, are prominent examples.

Many works by the Spanish artist Nieves de la Fuente explore relevant aspects of this theme. Her multimedia installations, for example, examine large-scale mining and depict, amongst other things, the total topographical upheaval of the original landscape, which, following extraction, in its lifeless otherness, is strikingly reminiscent of the surface of other planets. By blending real-life footage with digitally scanned and computer-generated visualisations, the territories depicted become even more elusive on the one hand, whilst on the other, they appear even more futuristic within the high-tech simulation. The past, present and future of the areas shown merge into ethereal, almost surreal visions, which nevertheless highlight an urgent need for action. For it must be borne in mind that such devastated areas do indeed exist on Earth and are spreading. This thematic complex is represented, amongst others, by the series of works Bridge,  No habrá servicio los Domingos ni en el cumpleaños de la Reina Victoria and Reliquia de las Disciplinas Geográficas, all of which form part of this exhibition.
Other projects in the exhibition, such as Night Companions or ODD//FOES (Orbital Distant Debris Falling on Earth Surface), address the growing number of satellites that form a network encircling the Earth or, far from it, traverse space as ‘pathfinders’. These spacecraft are already essential for human communication and navigation and will form the basis for a possible conquest of space in the future. But who has control over these spacecraft, and what happens if they fail? On Earth, the stars once guided both animals and humans; today, the former are often at a disadvantage, as they rely on the stars but can no longer distinguish them from the glowing ‘satellite dots’ in the night sky.

Nieves de la Fuente is presenting these five groups of works in her solo exhibition in Göttingen, thereby enriching the annual theme TRANSHUMAN in a multifaceted way with new areas and aspects drawn from her body of work. Although complex in content, the artist brings the themes to life using real-life examples and, through her distinctive visual language and highly sophisticated animations, makes them easily comprehensible and accessible without remaining purely documentary. Rather, the real-life case studies serve as a basis for the creation of highly innovative, independent works of art that fuse the familiar with the unfamiliar. This creates a tension that allows visitors to explore the ‘art environments’ generated by the artist aesthetically, acoustically and tactilely. In doing so, Nieves de la Fuente exemplifies where ‘transhuman tendencies’ are already taking shape in the present and how this development is fundamentally broadening the human perspective on interplanetary constellations and possibilities. However, new scope for action also requires social discourse to weigh up the potential consequences for the general public. The Kunstverein Göttingen facilitates this collective, critical discourse through its supporting programme and on the basis of its exhibitions of contemporary art, as an important part of its own social agenda.

* Marc Andreessen in the Techno-Optimist Manifesto, 2023

PROGRAMME

Sat 8 Aug from 5 pm
Vernissage
Welcome speeches and introduction to the exhibition
The artist and the curator will be in attendance
Open until 8 pm, free admission

Sun 30 Aug / Sun 20 Sep / Sun 27 Sep
3 pm on each occasion
Sunday Tours
with Joos Ziegler and Stephan Klee respectively

Sat 3 Oct 2026, 11 am – 4 pm
The Art Matinée
with a guided tour and panel discussion

Sun 4 Oct 2026 at 11 am
Finissage
“Walk and Talk” – a tour of the exhibition with curator Stephan Klee in German and English
and a closure
Open until 3 pm, free admission

Event images:
Nieves de la Fuente ODD // FOES – Series, 2023, computer-generated image, courtesy of the artist, @ VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2026

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Nieves de la Fuente was born in Madrid in 1988; she lives and works in Cologne and Madrid. After completing her Bachelor’s degree in Art at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (2011) and studying at the Kunsthochschule Kassel (2011–2013), she completed a postgraduate degree in Media Arts at the Kunsthochschule für Medien in Cologne in 2016.

Working at the intersection of economically transformed spaces and multimedia installations in the gallery context, Nieves de la Fuente frequently employs virtual reality, browser experiences or augmented reality to immerse viewers of her works in historical events, surrealist scenarios or real locations of particular significance – such as the moon-like (or rather Mars-like) Rio Tinto open-cast mining area in southern Spain. Among other things, she works on ongoing series which – thanks to digital technology – explore the (re-)visualisation of impossible worlds and their fusion with real space. Her main focus lies on computer-assisted imaging and mapping, as well as on the relationship to visual perception – a relevant aspect at a time when computer-assisted imaging technologies are developing at a rapid pace.

Among other roles, she worked as an artistic-academic research assistant in the Art/Transmedia Space programme at the KHM Cologne (2018/2019) and at Burg Giebichenstein Halle (2019/2021). In addition to numerous international residencies, for example in Montepulciano, Montréal, Linz, Warehouse (online), Santander and Villa Aurora, Los Angeles, Nieves de la Fuente Gutiérrez has received numerous awards and grants, most recently the North Rhine-Westphalia Women Artists’ Prize 2022.

Quote:
“For me, art is a discursive tool for the production of spatial constructions. I have mainly worked with sculpture and installations to pursue my process of inquiry. However, these installations are imbued with technology: both as a medium and as a reference to themselves and their malleability. My choice of virtuality and the production of experience as a medium must be viewed through a political lens. As an artist , I wish to explore the cultural potential of intellectual and digital landscapes as subjects of artistic research. Over the last years, I have been working with my mother’s birthplace, an old mining complex that has been completely transformed into a simulacrum of a Martian landscape. Ecology, the Anthropocene and feminism are recurring themes that I address throughout my practice. I am concerned with the translation between the analogue and the digital, which has recently been associated with virtual reality as a medium and as part of installation constructs. My artistic research focus on this topic is on raising awareness of physicality in VR, though not based on the standards dictated by the technological consensus within the entertainment industry on which VR is founded.”

more information >>www.nievesdelafuente.com

THE ANNUAL PROGRAMME

TRANSHUMAN (2026)
>POSTHUMAN (2027)

The Kunstverein Göttingen continues to follow the proven two-year biennial programme rhythm in order to enable the most in-depth examination possible of the programme’s overarching themes. After TERRA DIASPORA (2024–2025) explored contemporary phenomena, our current programme looks to the near and distant future.
The two-year programme TRANSHUMAN >POSTHUMAN (2026 > 2027) takes a critical look at the global transformation anticipated by some schools of thought: the transition from the anthropocentric humans of our time to the technically optimised transhumans of the near future and, even further into the future of our species, to posthumans. In short: the development of humanity from modern humanism to transhumanism to posthumanism.

The basic theme for the first year is TRANSHUMAN (2026) and includes four solo exhibitions and one group exhibition, bringing together artistic approaches and works to form a collection of perspectives and aspects of transhumanism. The formal and thematic basis of all exhibitions is the artistic exploration of the acceleration of technological development and capitalist growth, and the desired biotechnological optimisation of the human body and mind. The resulting social upheavals are already taking place in many ways in our present, with drastic consequences for coexistence within the span of a generation. These acute experiences flow into the visions of the approaching future and into the collective critical reflection of both the artists and our audience. With this in mind, a wide-ranging discourse and education programme is offered. We also aim to publish the annual programme again. The ideology of transhumanism should not be propagated uncritically, but rather deconstructed as critically as possible, collectively and on the basis of the works on display. We cordially invite all interested parties to join us.

We would like to thank our sponsors: Hochschule Bielefeld, Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Stadt Göttingen, Sparkasse Göttingen And Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V.

TRANSHUMAN N°4
Nieves de la Fuente
Xenoform

curated by Stephan Klee

Vernissage
Saturday, 8 August 5 pm
Open until 8 pm
(No admission fee)

Duration
9 Aug – 4 Oct 2026
Tue – Sun 11 am – 5 pm

Location
Altes Rathaus Göttingen (1. OG)
Markt 9
37073 Göttingen

Admission fee:
€ 3,00 / € 1,50 (reduced)
Free admission for guests aged 18 and under
Free admission with a Kultur Ticket
Free admission to exhibition Vernissages and Finissages

INTRODUCTION

‘We believe there is no material problem – whether caused by nature or technology – that cannot be solved by more technology!’*

If the technological utopian visions of transhumanism are to enter a phase of widespread realisation in the foreseeable future, certain plans devised by the heads of leading American technology conglomerates will play a decisive role. There is broad consensus amongst them that space should be colonised as quickly as possible in order to meet the demands of rising production using extraterrestrial resources. Earth’s resources are finite; a new race has begun, only this time the motto is not ‘Go West!’, but rather ‘Go Mars!’. As a result, commercial spaceflight is taking on a new key role in driving forward an agenda of expansive, private technological implementation; Elon Musk with ‘SpaceX’ and ‘Starlink’, and Jeff Bezos with ‘Blue Origin’, are prominent examples.

Many works by the Spanish artist Nieves de la Fuente explore relevant aspects of this theme. Her multimedia installations, for example, examine large-scale mining and depict, amongst other things, the total topographical upheaval of the original landscape, which, following extraction, in its lifeless otherness, is strikingly reminiscent of the surface of other planets. By blending real-life footage with digitally scanned and computer-generated visualisations, the territories depicted become even more elusive on the one hand, whilst on the other, they appear even more futuristic within the high-tech simulation. The past, present and future of the areas shown merge into ethereal, almost surreal visions, which nevertheless highlight an urgent need for action. For it must be borne in mind that such devastated areas do indeed exist on Earth and are spreading. This thematic complex is represented, amongst others, by the series of works Bridge,  No habrá servicio los Domingos ni en el cumpleaños de la Reina Victoria and Reliquia de las Disciplinas Geográficas, all of which form part of this exhibition.
Other projects in the exhibition, such as Night Companions or ODD//FOES (Orbital Distant Debris Falling on Earth Surface), address the growing number of satellites that form a network encircling the Earth or, far from it, traverse space as ‘pathfinders’. These spacecraft are already essential for human communication and navigation and will form the basis for a possible conquest of space in the future. But who has control over these spacecraft, and what happens if they fail? On Earth, the stars once guided both animals and humans; today, the former are often at a disadvantage, as they rely on the stars but can no longer distinguish them from the glowing ‘satellite dots’ in the night sky.

Nieves de la Fuente is presenting these five groups of works in her solo exhibition in Göttingen, thereby enriching the annual theme TRANSHUMAN in a multifaceted way with new areas and aspects drawn from her body of work. Although complex in content, the artist brings the themes to life using real-life examples and, through her distinctive visual language and highly sophisticated animations, makes them easily comprehensible and accessible without remaining purely documentary. Rather, the real-life case studies serve as a basis for the creation of highly innovative, independent works of art that fuse the familiar with the unfamiliar. This creates a tension that allows visitors to explore the ‘art environments’ generated by the artist aesthetically, acoustically and tactilely. In doing so, Nieves de la Fuente exemplifies where ‘transhuman tendencies’ are already taking shape in the present and how this development is fundamentally broadening the human perspective on interplanetary constellations and possibilities. However, new scope for action also requires social discourse to weigh up the potential consequences for the general public. The Kunstverein Göttingen facilitates this collective, critical discourse through its supporting programme and on the basis of its exhibitions of contemporary art, as an important part of its own social agenda.

* Marc Andreessen in the Techno-Optimist Manifesto, 2023

PROGRAMME

Sat 8 Aug from 5 pm
Vernissage
Welcome speeches and introduction to the exhibition
The artist and the curator will be in attendance
Open until 8 pm, free admission

Sun 30 Aug / Sun 20 Sep / Sun 27 Sep
3 pm on each occasion
Sunday Tours
with Joos Ziegler and Stephan Klee respectively

Sat 3 Oct 2026, 11 am – 4 pm
The Art Matinée
with a guided tour and panel discussion

Sun 4 Oct 2026 at 11 am
Finissage
“Walk and Talk” – a tour of the exhibition with curator Stephan Klee in German and English
and a closure
Open until 3 pm, free admission

Event images:
Nieves de la Fuente ODD // FOES – Series, 2023, computer-generated image, courtesy of the artist, @ VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2026

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Nieves de la Fuente was born in Madrid in 1988; she lives and works in Cologne and Madrid. After completing her Bachelor’s degree in Art at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (2011) and studying at the Kunsthochschule Kassel (2011–2013), she completed a postgraduate degree in Media Arts at the Kunsthochschule für Medien in Cologne in 2016.

Working at the intersection of economically transformed spaces and multimedia installations in the gallery context, Nieves de la Fuente frequently employs virtual reality, browser experiences or augmented reality to immerse viewers of her works in historical events, surrealist scenarios or real locations of particular significance – such as the moon-like (or rather Mars-like) Rio Tinto open-cast mining area in southern Spain. Among other things, she works on ongoing series which – thanks to digital technology – explore the (re-)visualisation of impossible worlds and their fusion with real space. Her main focus lies on computer-assisted imaging and mapping, as well as on the relationship to visual perception – a relevant aspect at a time when computer-assisted imaging technologies are developing at a rapid pace.

Among other roles, she worked as an artistic-academic research assistant in the Art/Transmedia Space programme at the KHM Cologne (2018/2019) and at Burg Giebichenstein Halle (2019/2021). In addition to numerous international residencies, for example in Montepulciano, Montréal, Linz, Warehouse (online), Santander and Villa Aurora, Los Angeles, Nieves de la Fuente Gutiérrez has received numerous awards and grants, most recently the North Rhine-Westphalia Women Artists’ Prize 2022.

Quote:
“For me, art is a discursive tool for the production of spatial constructions. I have mainly worked with sculpture and installations to pursue my process of inquiry. However, these installations are imbued with technology: both as a medium and as a reference to themselves and their malleability. My choice of virtuality and the production of experience as a medium must be viewed through a political lens. As an artist , I wish to explore the cultural potential of intellectual and digital landscapes as subjects of artistic research. Over the last years, I have been working with my mother’s birthplace, an old mining complex that has been completely transformed into a simulacrum of a Martian landscape. Ecology, the Anthropocene and feminism are recurring themes that I address throughout my practice. I am concerned with the translation between the analogue and the digital, which has recently been associated with virtual reality as a medium and as part of installation constructs. My artistic research focus on this topic is on raising awareness of physicality in VR, though not based on the standards dictated by the technological consensus within the entertainment industry on which VR is founded.”

more information >>www.nievesdelafuente.com

THE ANNUAL PROGRAMME

TRANSHUMAN (2026)
>POSTHUMAN (2027)

The Kunstverein Göttingen continues to follow the proven two-year biennial programme rhythm in order to enable the most in-depth examination possible of the programme’s overarching themes. After TERRA DIASPORA (2024–2025) explored contemporary phenomena, our current programme looks to the near and distant future.
The two-year programme TRANSHUMAN >POSTHUMAN (2026 > 2027) takes a critical look at the global transformation anticipated by some schools of thought: the transition from the anthropocentric humans of our time to the technically optimised transhumans of the near future and, even further into the future of our species, to posthumans. In short: the development of humanity from modern humanism to transhumanism to posthumanism.

The basic theme for the first year is TRANSHUMAN (2026) and includes four solo exhibitions and one group exhibition, bringing together artistic approaches and works to form a collection of perspectives and aspects of transhumanism. The formal and thematic basis of all exhibitions is the artistic exploration of the acceleration of technological development and capitalist growth, and the desired biotechnological optimisation of the human body and mind. The resulting social upheavals are already taking place in many ways in our present, with drastic consequences for coexistence within the span of a generation. These acute experiences flow into the visions of the approaching future and into the collective critical reflection of both the artists and our audience. With this in mind, a wide-ranging discourse and education programme is offered. We also aim to publish the annual programme again. The ideology of transhumanism should not be propagated uncritically, but rather deconstructed as critically as possible, collectively and on the basis of the works on display. We cordially invite all interested parties to join us.

We would like to thank our sponsors: Hochschule Bielefeld, Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Stadt Göttingen, Sparkasse Göttingen And Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V.