Advanced Relics

Exhibition
Forecasting
Object
Research

What new rituals and symbols emerge as worlds merge?

by Dutch Invertuals
05.04.2016
Milan, IT

Leaving behind the ‘old world’ with its outdated and sluggish systems. This generation is on the verge of a new era. The intangible world is gaining ground, allowing us to renegotiate meaning and understanding of matter in a highly liquidized context.

In 2016, Dutch Invertuals explored the changing relationship between humans, technology, and the objects that surround us through the exhibition Advanced Relics. At a time when digital environments were rapidly becoming extensions of our physical reality, we questioned what value and meaning objects would hold in a future where the boundaries between the tangible and intangible become increasingly blurred.

‘Science will never satisfy the hunger for answers to our deepest questions.’

Wendy Plomp

We worship yet unknown forces. Online profiles have become like a personal shrine and the person in the selfie transcends the person in the mirror. Increasingly we are converting our physical presence into a digital one, as we become our avatar.

DI_2016_Photo_Ronald Smits_07 — Fosfeen, Daniel de Bruin

DI_2016_Photo_Floor Knaapen_09 — Ceramic Symphony, Edhv

Just as historical relics carried traces of belief, memory, and personal stories, contemporary digital artifacts preserve fragments of our existence. They become markers of identity, documenting our experiences and offering new ways to understand what it means to be human.

New rituals emerge; new forms of worship and devotion arise. We create relics to comfort our spirits. They prove and reflect our identity, mark our progress and verify our humanity.