BIG D@T@! BIG MON€Y!

BIG D@T@! BIG MON€Y!

BIG D@T@! BIG MON€Y! is a bold, thought-provoking exhibition that explores the intersection of data, finance, and digitalization. Featuring seven artists and collectives, the works explore how our everyday digital footprints and the rise of cryptocurrencies are reshaping economies, identities, and power structures. Through projects like a speculative trading AI, a data-driven remake of classic art, and an analysis of the hidden infrastructure behind Amazon transactions, the exhibition sheds light on the often-invisible forces governing our digital lives. In an era of increasing surveillance and technological control, the exhibition raises critical questions about freedom, privacy, and the future of society.

Why should you watch this?

This exhibition is crucial for understanding the profound impact that data and finance industries have on our daily lives in today’s digital age. As we navigate an era of increasing data surveillance, cryptocurrencies, and AI-driven economies, the exhibition offers a rare opportunity to unpack how these invisible systems shape everything from personal identity to global power dynamics. With issues like privacy, digital exploitation, and the commodification of human behavior dominating modern discourse, the tour provides essential insights into how art can decode and critique these trends. At a time when data is currency and control is more automated than ever, this exhibition challenges us to reflect on how much of our lives we are willing to surrender to these evolving technologies. A guided tour will deepen your understanding of these urgent societal issues, offering nuanced perspectives on the digital forces that govern our world.
GASTEV. How to Work

GASTEV. How to Work

The exhibition GASTEV. How to Work examines the profound influence of Alexey Gastev, a key figure in Soviet thought and the founder of the Central Institute of Labor (CIT). Gastev’s work in the 1920s and 1930s revolutionized labor practices through his development of scientific labor organization (NOT), blending Marxist ideology with avant-garde approaches to efficiency, biomechanics, and human-machine interaction. His theories sought to transform workers into precise, efficient elements of industrial production, reflecting the broader Soviet utopian vision of reshaping society through labor. The exhibition contextualizes Gastev’s role not just as an organizer but as a visionary whose ideas on human potential and mechanization resonate with contemporary discussions on automation and the future of work. Despite his execution during the Stalin’s Great Purge/Terror, Gastev’s legacy continues to provoke thought on the relationship between labor, politics, and the shaping of the modern human.
More at http://avantgarde.center/gastev (in Russian only)

Why should you watch this?

This exhibition’ topic is especially relevant now because it connects Gastev’s groundbreaking theories on labor and mechanization to current debates about automation, AI, and the future of work. As industries rapidly evolve, Gastev’s vision of optimizing human potential through scientific organization offers critical insights into the challenges we face today. The show raises urgent questions about how labor is being transformed, the role of technology, and the balance between human and machine — a timely reflection in an era where these issues impact our daily lives more than ever.
Raqs Media Collective. Everything Else is Ordinary

Raqs Media Collective. Everything Else is Ordinary

The Raqs Media Collective, founded in 1992 in New Delhi by Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula, and Shuddhabrata Sengupta, operates at the intersection of contemporary art, historical inquiry, philosophical speculation, and political critique. Their work probes the fundamental, often elusive, concepts of time, language, and history, challenging linear narratives and fixed interpretations. Central to their practice is the interrogation of time — not merely as a measurable entity but as a force that governs societal rhythms, disciplines human life, and underpins capitalist structures. In works such as Escapement (2009) and Re-Run (2013), they explore how time shapes experience, asking what it means to measure time and how it intersects with space and history.

Why should you watch this?

The Raqs Media Collective’s exploration of time as a force shaping human experience offers a profound critique of how society functions under capitalism. Their works challenge traditional notions of time, revealing its role in regulating life and framing historical narratives. By dismantling these fixed interpretations, they invite audiences to rethink the ways time is measured, experienced, and manipulated. In doing so, their practice merges art, history, and philosophy, making their work a compelling reflection on the rhythms that shape our individual and collective existence.

If our soup can could speak: Mikhail Lifshitz and the Soviet Sixties

If our soup can could speak: Mikhail Lifshitz and the Soviet Sixties

The exhibition is dedicated to one of the most enigmatic, mysterious, and controversial philosophers of the USSR and his famous anthology of polemical texts, The Crisis of Ugliness, which criticizes the art of the 20th century. The retrospective showcases never presented before archive documents, Lifshitz’s texts, and artworks in ten interiors, each representing a milestone in the development of modernism or Lifshitz’s thought: 10 rooms – 10 stages of Soviet history – 10 knots in Lifshitz’s biography. The project is the first large-scale analysis attempt of the tense relationship between so-called progressive art and politics in the XX-XXI century.

Why should you watch this?

This exhibition is a must-see for anyone interested in the deep connections between art, politics, and society. Lifshitz’s The Crisis of Ugliness offers a rare Soviet critique of modernism, challenging Cubism and Pop Art in ways that still resonate today. The exhibition’s exploration of these ideas through archival materials, artworks, and Lifshitz’s own writings sheds light on the complex relationship between avant-garde art and political ideology. In a time of global crisis, Lifshitz’s critiques are more relevant than ever, inviting viewers to reconsider the role of art in shaping social consciousness.