Addie Wagenknecht - Shrine for iPhones, 2018

Addie Wagenknecht - Shrine for iPhones, 2018

In her works, Addie Wagenknecht addresses the ethos of the hacker culture and the dark side of the data systems that construct contemporary reality. In the installation Shrine for iPhones (2018) the artist creates a kind of monument to outdated mobile phones that are discarded after each technological update. The phones are arranged in layers, like the remains of beloved objects, preserved alongside other commemorative offerings. When the mobile phone is constantly within the user's reach, emotional attachment is inevitable and becomes normal. Such dependence can lead to a strong emotional connection, a kind of love.

Wagenknecht's installation explores the place of desire, which in our era occupies extreme positions that require the individual's addiction to acts entirely directed towards the object of desire. Behavior that was once seen as neurotic is now becoming normalized and assimilated within the legitimate channels of the contemporary culture of pleasure. Fantasy is at the heart of the consumer culture, strengthening the bond between capitalism and unbridled desire. The capitalist mechanism promotes "demand" for additional objects of desire – products of the first, second, and third generation and so on without end. The mystification of the assembly line holds out the promise to its believers-consumers that the products of the "next generation" will solve all their problems. The perpetual movement towards the next goal conveys one message: keep on desiring. For happiness, like love, is just around the corner.