Pattern of Activation (on Mars), 2014, Installation: photo backdrop, stones, Accelerated Growth Potential, 2013, polyurethane rubber, aluminum stand, Approximation Mars II, 2014, digital print on aluminum, cutout display
“The notion of a survival guide arises as an answer to a basic human need to cope with increasing complexity. In the face of death, personal attachment and confusion, one has to feel, interpret and index this ocean of signs in order to survive.”
-- Katja Novitskova, “Post Internet Survival Guide 2010″
Katja Novitskova’s exploration of human condition and the objects it renders into the world have taken her to Mars, where new forms are being discovered in the dim light of a Martian sunset. Using high-resolution images captured by NASA mission robots Spirit, Curiosity, and Opportunity, Novitskova integrates unusual shapes into the fossilized landscape of Mars’ terrain, creating images that disturb the human conscious to a point of disruption.
Spirit, Curiosity and Opportunity is a continuation of Novitskova’s 2012 solo exhibition, MACRO EXPANSION, in which she examines the perception of natural, contemporary visual forms as they are disseminated online. She returns these acquired forms to their ancient socio-material origins, creating idealized future environments, which themselves mimic forms that have evolved over millions of years to a comfortable human familiarity.
Approximation Mars II, 2014, digital print on aluminum, cutout display
Approximation Mars I, 2014, digital print on aluminum, cutout display, plant granulate
Exhibition view, Spirit, Curiosity and Opportunity, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin, 2014
Growth Potentials (Mars), 2014, digital prints on film, urethane rubber, insects
Growth Potentials (Mars), 2014, detail, digital prints on film, urethane rubber, insects
Growth Potentials (Mars), 2014, detail, digital prints on film, urethane rubber, insects
Exhibition view, Spirit, Curiosity and Opportunity, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin, 2014
Sky View (Mars), 2014, digital print on window film
Energy Release, 2014, aluminum, airbrush
Pathfinder, 2014, terracotta pots, digital print on decal, ochre
Pathfinder, 2014, detail, terracotta pots, digital print on decal, ochre
Pattern of Activation (on Mars), 2014, installation: photo backdrop, stones, Accelerated Growth Potential, 2013, polyurethane rubber, aluminum stand, Approximation Mars II, 2014, digital print on aluminum, cutout display
Could this be a fossilised life-form or a mechanical artifact? Perhaps these two heavily censored images of a scrambled sky and altered ground surface originally displayed real objects on the planet, which we are not allowed to see. This perfectly formed object is outlined by the sun’s shadow and resembles a bird or vehicle. Does this rock have lettering? And what is that if not a female figure, and a possible child and man near it?
Human perception may not be as subjective as one would like to assume. After all, we are all products of the same cosmic, biological, and social trajectory.
Spirit, Curiosity and Opportunity
by Katja Novitskova
5/3/14 – 6/28/14
Kraupa-Tuskany-Zeidler
Karl–Liebknecht–Straße 29, 4th floor, 10178 Berlin
Tue-Sat 12-7pm