Four Virtual Artistic Interventions From the Jemand Society Explore Speculative Futures
To examine utopias and dystopias, artists Jeremy Bailey, Lucie Freynhagen, Sam Lavigne, and Janne Kummer stage online interventions inspired by 19th-century writer Bertha von Suttner.
On February 4, 2022, the Jemand Society will launch with an online performance by the self-proclaimed Famous New Media Artist Jeremy Bailey, followed by a different artistic intervention every Friday throughout the rest of the month.
Bailey, alongside Lucie Freynhagen, Sam Lavigne, and Janne Kummer (Aka.Alaska) form the core of the Jemand Society, a group of artists exploring concepts of utopia and dystopia through virtual interventions that aim to engage audiences in imagining, speculating, and, possibly, taking action towards desirable futures.
Created by the Goethe-Institut USA and Goethe-Institut Canada in collaboration with Rosy DX, the Jemand Society draws its name from a pseudonym used by the 19th-century writer and pacifist Bertha von Suttner: “Jemand” (from German, meaning “someone”), under which she published her book Das Maschinenalter (1889). In the novel, she approaches the present while looking back from the perspective of a fictitious future. Like von Suttner, the members of the Jemand Society provide a glimpse into the present through lenses of possible futures, questioning the status quo.
Online Programs
- February 4: Launch event for “PAC” by Jeremy Bailey
- February 11: Performance of “XOwB” by Janne Kummer
- February 18: Launch of “Capitalist Gene” by Sam Lavigne
- February 25: Opening for “Wunderkammer of Passing Futures” by Lucie Freynhagen
Artists Cibelle Cavali Bastos, Heran Genene, Olga Hohmann, Anton Krause, Shawné Michaelaine Holloway, Alla Popp, and Clemens Reinecke are collaborators in Jemand Society projects.
For more information, visit jemandsociety.com.
