Interactive VR installation
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Here you can enter the virtual gallery.
Verena Tscherner’s “Reframing Deconstruction” is an exploration of the duality of the ephemeral and the enduring, expressed through a unique blend of physical and digital media.
In “Reframing Deconstruction,” Tscherner transforms mundane waste products – a bloodstained handkerchief, a saliva-soaked piece of chewing gum, and a discarded cigarette butt – into essential components of her artistic narrative. The objects, each carrying traces of her DNA, undergo a unique and delayed decomposition process, which is meticulously captured using a variety of media art tools, and in a style reminiscent of a scientific laboratory setup.
What’s remarkable here is Tscherner’s ability to immortalize the transient. Each object, conserved within a shrink-wrapped plastic bag, is submerged in an aquarium filled with water alongside their final outcomes of blood, ashes, and wax. The climax is a powerful act of destruction; the encapsulated items are destroyed by a shredder, a striking reminder of the inevitability of decay and the transient nature of the physical world.
Yet, Tscherner’s narrative doesn’t end with destruction. She propels these ephemeral artifacts into the digital realm by turning the entire project into a non-fungible token (NFT) and anchoring it on the blockchain. In this way, her DNA, and by extension, her identity, achieves an unexpected form of immortality. This seemingly paradoxical journey, from organic decay to digital immortality, brings forth provocative questions about the interplay of physicality and virtuality, decay and preservation.
In “Reframing Deconstruction,” Verena Tscherner exhibits her profound understanding of the complex relationship between the physical and digital realms. Her work stands as a stark commentary on life and mortality, while simultaneously revealing the potential for rebirth in the digital world. It’s a truly immersive experience, one that invites viewers to contemplate the constant flux of our existence, oscillating between the organic and the digital, the fleeting and the everlasting.
Reframing Deconstruction was realized with the assistance of the Artcont Gallery. In August, there was a ZIB interview on the Vienna Digital Summer, during which this VR installation was also showcased, first at the gallery itself, and then at Parallel 2023.