LOG OFF – GO OUTSIDE – TOUCH SOME GRASS

The expression “Go touch some grass!” is used on the internet and metaphorically stands for a reconnection with the “real” world. At the same time, it implies that the person addressed has acquired a delusional mindset through over-consumption of content from echo chambers. The title “Touching Grass Is Not Enough”, originating from meme culture, describes the difficulty of breaking out of digital immersion and finding a healthy way of dealing with our hyper-complex times.

This tension is reflected in the exhibition’s large-scale light boxes, all of which display the same motif of a green meadow of flowers. At second glance, another layer of so-called “eye floaters” appears on top of the unfocussed depictions of nature – an optical phenomenon that creates semi-transparent shapes in the field of vision. In this reality before reality, drawings and text fragments become visible, symbolising an inner struggle for one’s own sanity in times of multiple crises, wars and catastrophes.

In a humorous yet sinister way, Reichart’s new works open up a multi-layered examination of the blurring boundaries between the digital and physical worlds and the increasing drifting apart of subjective realities in the information age.

— Heiko Lietz (Head curator at Kunstverein Gastgarten)