“Stretch out your arm to touch the operating system”

So shall you be instructed by SomoS Artist-in-Residence Corinna Berndt (AUS/DE) at the entry of her solo exhibition, beckoning for you to reach out to your technologies, and across the blurred lines between the physical and virtual world. Her solo exhibition Streaming Data is the Ultimate Trust Exercise with the Moon culminates her three-month residency at SomoS by proposing a set of well-articulated, science-fiction-inspired artistic comments on the imbrication of technology into human life.

As the exhibition title may suggest, Berndt considers the interaction with a device or with outer space as dealing with an equally vast dimension. Indeed, as lonely rovers are sent by states to explore the planet Mars, so too do individuals on Earth gesture towards touch-screens at exponential rates. In both cases, technology acts as a way to understand and navigate the physical realm.

Berndt’s works are concerned with the inevitable glitches and mismatches in translation that occur when something is digitalized. One prominent example is her Silent Museum, a series of digital paintings that was developed from 3D scanned everyday objects. In their often clunky, awkward reconstruction, these objects appear closer to fossils and ornaments than something from physical reality. In this sense, Berndt’s solo exhibition approaches physical-digital mis-translation not as failure, but rather as an opportunity for reflection.

Streaming Data is the Ultimate Trust Exercise with the Moon, suggests a reflection on the historically embodied relationship to our devices. Berndt’s video featuring a talking lake, her self-devised punch code sculpture referencing the first computer, and her partially bot-generated writings all return to the same original, embodied command - reach out to technology to understand your world.

Opening: Tuesday August 27, 6-9pm
Duration: August 28-31, 2-7pm

Exhibition page: https://somos.media/gd
Facebook Event page: https://somos.media/gf
Corinna's Berndt's artist page: https://somos.media/et

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ABOUT CORINNA BERNDT
Corinna Berndt (Australia) is a Melbourne-based multi media artist working with sculpture, collage and video. Interested in the tension she observes between physical and digital experiences, her works trace interactions between objects and beings, thematizing techniques of editing and image manipulation in the process.

Berndt recently completed a Masters of Fine Arts with First Class Honours at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, Australia (2015-2017). She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Auckland, New Zealand (2003-2007).

Her works have been presented at various galleries and project spaces in Melbourne, including Anna Papa’s Gallery, West Space, Kings Ari and C3 Contemporary Art Space. Selected solo exhibitions have included Collision Level, FeltDark, Adelaide (2018); Invisible Vision & Superimposed Rhubarb, Kings Artist Run (2017); To Move in Non-Linear Dimensions at Trocadero Art Space in 2016, and Activities for Small Hours at Seventh Gallery in 2015.

Group shows include Our selves, Ctrl+Shft Collective, Oakland, USA (curated by Frances Fleetwood, 2017); Hobienniale, Hobart (2017), MCA ARTBAR, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney (curated by Julia Gorman, 2017); and Five Cents Cinema, Melbourne Fringe Festival, Melbourne Town Hall (curated by Paula van Beek, 2016).

Awards and grants she has received included the Felt Space Philanthropic Fund (2017); Fiona Myer Award for Excellence (2016); and VCA & MCM Faculty Small Grant in 2016. She completed a twelve-month studio residency and internship at Five Walls Projects in 2017.

Corrina Berndt’s work is represented in the Artbank Melbourne private collection, and the National Gallery of Australia.

Corinna Berndt’s artist residency at SomoS has been kindly supported by the The University of Melbourne, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music.