Haus der Kunst in Munich presents the first solo museum show in Europe of the American artist, WangShui. The exhibition WangShui. Window of Tolerance interweaves science fiction with Chinese philosophy, reality television and machine-learning programmes.
Developed as a form of screenplay in which the machine has become the scriptwriter, applying countless variations of its training material, Window of Tolerance reflects our symbiosis with the technologies that are now determining our lives.
The centrepiece of the exhibition is the live video simulation Certainty of the Flesh (2023), a new co-commission by Haus der Kunst and the Asian Art Circle at the Guggenheim, New York. The title is a reference to the superhuman body-knowledge found in the alien flesh of Octavia E. Butler’s science fiction book series set in the 2020s, Xenogesis (1987–1989).
Andrea Lissoni, Artistic Director, Haus der Kunst, said:
WangShui works on future technological extensions of the body, of the self, and on evolving means of interpersonal communication. Their experimentation with machine learning and their use of neural networks to create other worldly personalities challenges representation, from painting to moving image works. Whilst giving voice to communities in the making, WangShui propels the legacy of immersive environments into new radical digital universes.
WangShui. Window of Tolerance is curated by Sarah Johanna Theurer with Teresa Retzer. It has been programmed alongside and in dialogue with Inside Other Spaces. Environments by Women Artists 1956–1976 (8th September 2023–10th March 2024) to provide a contemporary perspective to the concurrent landmark exhibition at Haus der Kunst.
WangShui. Window of Tolerance, 8th September 2023 — 10th March 2024, Haus der Kunst, Munich hausderkunst.de
VARIOUS OTHERS the international format of the Munich art scene runs 7th-24th September 2023 variousothers.com
Certainty of the Flesh is a co-commission by Haus der Kunst, Munich, and the Asian Art Circle at the Guggenheim, New York, with additional support from LEAP Society & Constantin Schwaab; Sammlung Kerstin Hiller and Helmut Schmelzer; The New York State Council of the Arts.
About the artist
WangShui (b. 1986) is an American artist who grew up in Los Angeles and Chiang Mai, Thailand. They studied Social Anthropology and Art at UC Berkeley, and Film/Video at Bard College, and received their MFA in 2018. Working across a range of media, including sculpture, painting, installation, and film, their work explores the strange loops of mediation in which we exist today. They are based in New York City and Hudson, NY.
Recent exhibitions include WangShui: Poiesis at the Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2023). They recently presented a demo version of Certainty of the Flesh during an online panel with Nora Khan at the Guggenheim Museum, New York City. Their work has been shown at the Biennale de Lyon (2022); the Whitney Biennial, New York City (2022); The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, (2021); The Shed, New York City (2019); the Experimental Media & Performance Art Center (EMPAC), Troy (2019); the International Film Festival Rotterdam (2019); the Julia Stoschek Collection, Berlin (2019); and the GHOST 2561 Performance and Video Triennial, Bangkok (2018), among other venues. Since 2013, WangShui has worked together with their business partner on architectural projects such as ZÉZÉ Hotel, a space for hospitality and queer art in Hudson, NY.
WangShui is the recipient of numerous awards and commissions, including the Princess Grace Film Award, and the Triple Canopy Commission. Their work is in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City.
About Haus der Kunst
Haus der Kunst is one of the world’s leading centres for contemporary art situated in Munich, one of Germany’s most significant cities for the arts. It is dedicated to the exploration of the diverse histories of contemporary art based on a foundation of focused exhibitions, performance and music events, and education.
Established in 1937, Haus der Kunst was an important venue for featuring avant-garde works such as Picasso’s Guernica (1937) in 1955. It has since been radically transformed into an international centre of modern art exhibitions. Today, Haus der Kunst functions as a location for a younger generation of artists to experiment and develop new work alongside large scale exhibitions by key international figures of modern and contemporary art. The programme seeks to show the development of creative ideas across generations, juxtaposing the newest work with that of such ground-breaking figures of the older generation as Fujiko Nakaya, Heidi Bucher, Joan Jonas, Phyllida Barlow and Katalin Ladik.
