Silja Yvette
Metaphysics of Core Matter

An image of the contemporary reality of accelerated life. A window into the whirlwind of our times. A musing of our society‘s priorities. A reflection of our struggle to reconcile our ambitions with our values. A manifestation of the rapid pace of progress. A representation of our impact on the world. A testament to our relationship with the environment. A toolbox of modernity as a symbol of the human spirit, reflecting our relentless pursuit of knowledge, innovation, and advancement in the complexities of our times. 

 

Metaphysics of Core Matter is a foundational interrogation of contemporary materials at the intersection of art, research and industry. Silja Yvette explores packaging bodies in their problematic dimensions and expansion for the environment. In the social context, packaging bodies are to be understood as archetypes of consumption - mass-produced articles made of foam, Styrofoam, aluminum, which are already worthless at the moment of their destination. These materials, which are quickly disposed of in everyday life, are taken care of by Silja Yvette and raised to a symbolic pedestal. A new value is ascribed to them with a reference to what they actually stand for: an image of the contemporary reality of accelerated life. A construction kit of modernity. With a sensual aesthetic and iconic staging that provokes the foreign in the familiar, Silja Yvette invites the viewers of her works to come into closer contact with their motifs. In this way, the foreign in the familiar leads to a confrontation with the everyday in an extraordinary dimension of perception and resistance at the same time, a being touched as an impetus for reflections on sustainability and feelings about our earth, world and our own actions.

In contrast to the image motifs, the series poses the question of its own photographic production and incorporates above all bio-based and recycled raw materials. This approach is unusual for the branch of photography; photo production and presentation often has a poor ecological footprint for very different reasons and thus fatal effects on the environment, humans and animals.

Works from the project have already been shown in Lisbon, Berlin, Mannheim and Paris, among other places. A selection of works, including new and not-yet-shown works, were shown curated by Katharina Arimont in March 2023 as part of the European Month of Photography Berlin (EMOP).

The EMOP is the largest German photography festival. It has been held every two years in Berlin since 2004 and presents numerous exhibitions and events on historical and contemporary photography - organized by Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH in cooperation with museums, cultural institutions, galleries, embassies, project spaces and photography schools in Berlin and Potsdam.

The exhibition Metaphysics of Core Matter is intended to open up space for reflection, in which the theme of sustainability is explored on various levels. At the same time, a debate on sustainable material production in photography is to be opened. What is unique about the series is that Silja Yvette goes a step further and addresses the issue of sustainability not only on the content level, but puts photography in a larger context of a packaging and material culture: She dives into the issue of presentation and logistic materials in the field of photography, a medium that is closely linked to the #industry, and developed a lamination solution that avoids the usual harmful materials of aluminum and is made of bio-based and recycled materials.

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With her artistic view of the industry, Silja Yvette challenges conventional categories of myth and progress. She explores the intersection of tradition and innovation, timelessness and temporality, and poetry and pragmatism, prompting reflection on the meanings behind these categories and enlivening the discourse surrounding them. At the same time, her conceptual approach pushes the boundaries of the philosophical implications of technological and cultural change.

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The exhibition is also the starting point of a longer-term collaboration between Silja Yvette and Katharina Arimont, in which the two will use the artistic approach Silja Yvette in sustainable structures of economic systems to provide innovative impulses for the circular economy. It is intended to bring about a change not only in the artifact itself, but also in the contexts in which each new artwork takes its position.This transformative approach, which integrates art into entrepreneurial value creation and strengthens the innovative power of business enterprises, is what Katharina Arimont is pursuing with art in strategy®, under whose umbrella Galerie Arimont is located. The project will be dedicated to the theme of myth and progress. Exciting means in the context include accelerated aging processes - as an attempt by humans to look into the future.

Exhibition accompanying short guided tours:

Curator Katharina Arimont will lead a guided tour through Silja Yvette's work series Metaphysics of Core Matter. (duration approx. 60 minutes)

4 and 25 March 3-4pm