Opening: Friday 21 March 2025, 20:00
A track from the 80’s (Whip it, Devo), inspired by a novel from the 70’s (Gravity’s Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon) examines the collapse of a society, that stupefied by a delirium of overconsumption and information overload, worships the almost religious submission to technology —through which power is manifested, expanded, and normalized. And while these may have once seemed like strange signs of the times, nowadays we are discussing the consequences of this interaction and seeking ways to coexist, if not to reconsider our relationship with technology.
The exhibition “Technofetishism: Whip it into Shape”, hosted in MOMus-Experimental Center for the Arts (Warehouse B1, Pier A’, Port) in Thessaloniki, from 21 March until 31 August 2025, explores the fetishisation of technology by our contemporary techno-capitalist society, which has transformed technological objects into sources of sexual arousal, substitutes for desire, and venerated fetishes. The works presented offer a critical reflection on how technology mediates—and sometimes distorts—our notions of intimacy, eroticism, desire, and communication, our own identity, blurring the boundaries between freedom, compulsion, and constraint.
The exhibition highlights the emerging power and dependency relationships between ourselves and technological media, which have now become extensions of our bodies. These relationships are both evident and inextricably linked to consumption and control.
The modern exaltation of technology has also exposed contemporary practices of self- and gender-representation, imposing warped ideals and standards of beauty. Through their works, the artists ask: Could we be experiencing the ultimate fulfillment of a technofetishistic society?
And while these may have once seemed like mere peculiar signs of the times, today we are discussing the consequences of this enslavement and seeking ways to coexist with technology—if not to liberate ourselves from it.
Curated by: Eirini Papakostantinou, Art Historian, Curator MOMus-Experimental Center for the Arts
Artists: Maria Antelman, Zisis Bliatkas, Thomas Diafas, Carla Gannis, Maria Glyka, Faith Holland, Kalos&Klio, Casey Kauffmann, Echo Can Luo, Rosa Menkman, Eva Papamargariti, Moises Sanabria in collaboration with Tom Galle and John Yuyi, Super G (George Ouzounis), Theo Triantafyllidis, Anna Vasof, Emilio Vavarella, Vassilis Vlastaras, Maria Vozali
As part of the exhibition’s parallel programme, there is also a collaboration with the Pure Identities 2 – HERizonsFestival in an event organized by the group In contACT org, featuring a photography exhibition and a series of live actions (21-23 March 2025) in MOMus-Experimental Center for the Arts.
*A section in the exhibition contains content that may not be suitable for underage audience.
