THE PROJECT
BEYOND MATTER

The present exhibition, Matter. Non-Matter. Anti-Matter. Past Exhibitions as Digital Experiences, has been realized within the framework of Beyond Matter, an international, collaborative, and practice-based research project that brings cultural heritage to the verge of virtual reality. This undertaking seeks to engage with a contemporary shift that is taking place in cultural institutions and the museum sector at large, particularly with view to the production and mediation of visual art. It is largely attributable to the rapid development and ubiquitous presence of computation and information technology.

The shift is seismic and is leading to a condition that can be summarized as “the virtual condition” in which dichotomies between presence and absence, physical and computer-generated, real and simulated are losing their validity. In his essay from 1979, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge [La Condition Postmoderne: Rapport sur le Savoir], Jean-François Lyotard describes the postmodern condition as a “crisis of narratives” that is characterized by an increased skepticism toward the totalizing nature of metanarratives. Deriving from this notion, it can be implied that the virtual condition reveals a crisis of dichotomies.

Algorithmically generated sequences increasingly dominate our reality. By intertwining the physical with the virtual the linearity of time is distorted and physical perimeters are extended. This has extensive implications for the spatial aspects that are central to the curation and mediation of visual arts. The museum becomes a hybrid entity. Beyond its geographical location it inhabits a porous system consisting of an affluence of digital platforms, virtual exhibition spaces, and sites of knowledge production. The visualization of such simulated and generated spaces has developed alongside computation.

The partnering institutions have developed tools and best practices that will support art practitioners, curators, and museum professionals in adapting to this virtual transformation. This is reflected in the broad range of project activities, which include the digital revival of two past landmark exhibitions, newly curated art and archival exhibitions, conferences, an artist residency program, an online platform, and a number of publications. This exhibition is one of the main outputs of the project Beyond Matter.