Emma Adler - SIMULATOR (SIC!)NESS

Disruptions, defensive reactions, dystopia, devastation: Berlin-based artist Emma Adler has explored the effects and mechanisms of conspiracy theories and fake news under the haze of pandemic and populism as part of her fellowship with the ZF Art Foundation at the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen last year. The exhibition title Simulator [SIC!]ness refers to the nausea induced by the deception of the senses, akin to that experienced in simulators or virtual realities. Drawing on the aesthetics of video games, Adler simulates and deconstructs fragments and scenarios from the realm of conspiracy influencers, web video producers, and internet warriors in multimedia spatial installations: pseudo-stony deserts flicker in green light beneath the thumping of a heartbeat, a dysfunctional gaming chair is stranded on a pile of sand, and concrete fields made of identical modules imitate the copy-paste mode of a computer game. In doing so, Adler does not present a counter-narrative but questions the reliability of perception as a tool of knowledge in a digitalized world. Accompanied by an essay (in German and English) by curator Melina Mercer.