Art can show us different ways of thinking
An interview with Marcella Beccaria, curator of STATEMENT 2025 at viennacontemporary
Established in 2022 as a direct response to the war in Ukraine and supported by ERSTE Foundation, STATEMENT—including a curated exhibition and public discussions—is viennacontemporary’s platform dedicated to urgent sociopolitical themes. It seeks to address complex global challenges through the lens of contemporary art, acknowledging that while the role of art is not necessarily to predict the future, it can offer constructive insight into the present and inspire alternative ways of thinking about what might contribute to a better future.
This year, STATEMENT is curated by Marcella Beccaria. The exhibition, titled Realities Building, focuses on algorithmic control, digital disinformation, and technological manipulation.
Centering on film, sound, and performance, Realities Building explores how artists—living in different parts of the world, by choice or necessity, and working with time-based media—provoke critical thought and create new frameworks for perceiving reality.
“In an era in which everything seems to be potentially visible, and paradoxically, it is also more obscure and incomprehensible, Realities Building gathers artworks that promote individual critical thinking within the entangled proliferation of technologies that either produce information or disseminate disinformation. Recognizing art as a major form of knowledge, capable of forging its own independent language and hence generating new thoughts, the exhibition examines how artists raise issues, suggest questions, and open unexpected points of view,” writes Marcella Beccaria in the curatorial statement.
Marcella Beccaria is an art historian, curator, and author. Her career began in the United States with curatorial roles at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. As Vice Director and Chief Curator and Curator of Collections at Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea in Turin, she has curated and co-curated numerous acclaimed exhibitions, including Giovanni Anselmo (2016), Wael Shawky (2016), Gilberto Zorio (2017), Nalini Malani (2018), Anri Sala (2019), Giulio Paolini (2020), Anne Imhof (2020-21), Otobong Nkanga (2021-22), Olafur Eliasson (2022), Rebecca Horn-Cutting through the past (2025).
Beccaria has authored major catalogues, including the first monographs on Roberto Cuoghi, Yang Fudong, and Francesco Vezzoli, and has edited numerous books on Castello’s collections. Her texts have appeared in Parkett, Flash Art, and institutional publications from the Venice Biennale, Guggenheim Museum New York, Museu Serralves Porto, and Kunstmuseum Winterthur. She is also the author of a monograph on Olafur Eliasson.
What will make this year’s STATEMENT exhibition a statement? What is your concept and vision—especially given that, for the first time, it will take place in a new and different space?
I was invited by the new Artistic Director of viennacontemporary, Abaseh Mirvali, to contribute to this edition of the fair and to curate the STATEMENT exhibition. For the first time, the exhibition will take place in a new space within the fair’s premises—a gallery located upstairs on the first floor, a new space that will be opened to the public specifically for the occasion of this exhibition.
The viennacontemporary STATEMENT exhibition, supported by Erste Foundation, each year focuses on specific aspects of reality and the contemporary world. This year, it addresses some of the many contradictions we are familiar with. In particular, the focus is on the tension between information and disinformation – a theme of particular urgency in this historical context dramatically marked by major conflicts in the world, and when the presence of artificial intelligence is by any means shaping how we think and how we understand what we believe we see.
The idea behind the Realities Building exhibition is to explore how artists reflect on this paradoxical perception of the world. In recent years, a number of writers and philosophers have also examined this very contradiction. You know, people like James Bridle (artist and author of books “Ways of Being” (2022) and “New Dark Age” (2018) – ed.), for example, wrote extensively about the topic - we think we know more because we have access to information, we have technologies, even starting with free applications on our phones. At the same time, reality seems to shift right under our feet, and what we can grasp or understand about the way things function has become increasingly obscure. We live in a world in which, in a way, each of us is fabricating our own realities. This is very challenging, and it is very interesting to look at how artists are reflecting on this paradoxical situation. It’s not necessarily that artists can predict the future—although sometimes art does anticipate it—but that is not the primary role of art. For sure, however, art can show us different ways of thinking—ways that exist outside of a given frame—inviting us to use our own critical intelligence, rather than simply accepting prefabricated images of the world as others would have us take for granted.
It’s a huge concept, of course, with many possible layers to include in a relatively small exhibition. However, I believe the artists we are working with here in Vienna are truly exceptional, offering significant perspectives and deeply valuable insights.
We live in a world in which, in a way, each of us is fabricating our own realities. This is very challenging, and it is very interesting to look at how artists are reflecting on this paradoxical situation.
Could you elaborate more on the artists participating in the exhibition?
The exhibition will feature works by six artists, and the first one I would like to mention is Zhanna Kadyrova. She will represent Ukraine in the upcoming Venice Biennale, and I think it’s particularly wonderful to have her with us in Vienna. Her workis deeply engaged with this dramatic and violent present that she and many others are experiencing.
The piece I have selected for Realities Building is one in which the contradiction between the reality of war and the way media can manipulate information is particularly strong. It’s called Russian Rocket, and she has been producing it while traveling across Europe. What you see in the work is essentially an image of a rocket that appears about to hit different European cities. The piece is composed of 16 screens, creating the effect of a major newsroom wall, where you see multiple videos of different European cities, each showing a rocket seemingly about to strike.
Interestingly, the way the piece was made is very low-tech. It has no sound, only the visual image. Zhanna created it by filming through a window in each given city. On the window, she placed the sticker of a rocket. It’s a way to look at possible realities, while also reflecting on the contradiction between the dramatic presence of war in one place, the growing sense of fear spreading across the world, and at the same time, the way a mediated image can alter our perception of an event.
Another very important artist featured in the exhibition is Agnieszka Kurant. Originally from Poland, she currently lives between Europe and New York. For several years now, her work has offered a fascinating reflection on the ways in which collective intelligence, the digital age, and the interactions between different species—whether they reach balance or not—play out in the contemporary world.
She will present one of her most iconic works, Chemical Garden, an ongoing installation that changes every day. Essentially, it consists of a tank into which she pours a variety of chemicals. These chemicals react to their environment and to their interaction with each other. Significantly, many of these substances are the very same chemicals that form the basis of the digital technologies we use and live with every day.
The work reveals, right before our eyes, things we normally never see. These are elements most of us wouldn’t even imagine—yet they underpin our daily reality and even the systems through which news and information circulate.
Then another major artist is Armando Lulaj, the renowned Albanian artist who represented Albania at the 56th Venice Biennale a few editions ago. The piece he will present comes from his extensive research on the history of Albania. He has been working on a series called Albanian Trilogy, in which he explores the country’s history, its political contradictions, and the transition from being under the influence of a communist regime to becoming a very different place.
The piece he will present is a video installation titled Control. In this work, we see a single-shot image of a large panel, similar to those seen when driving on a highway—typically used for political messages or advertisements. In this case, however, there is no message on the screen of this large panel. What we see is a highway with cars passing by and this massive, empty advertising board that seems to be waiting to be filled with some kind of information or reality that does not yet exist. Occasionally, we see the artist’s hand snapping his fingers, as if trying to stop reality or fabricate a new one. It feels as though something is about to happen—but it never does. The image loops endlessly, creating a sense of slight frustration, as you keep expecting a change that never arrives.
The site chosen by Armando is loaded with recent historical events and at the same time, the piece is a truly powerful metaphor for how, at times, things remain static despite our hopes and efforts. As individuals, we strive to take control, yet often we fail to bring about the change we desire.
As individuals, we strive to take control, yet often we fail to bring about the change we desire.
The exhibition will also feature a work by Dutch artist Jonas Staal, who has extensively explored the concept of propaganda and the ways in which art has been used throughout this century by political regimes to construct certain realities and convey specific messages. Staal is deeply interested in the power of art. He often describes himself as a “propaganda artist”—someone who strongly believes that art can indeed play an active role in shaping the society we live in.
For Realites Building he presents a wonderful film project produced in 2023, titled Propaganda Theater. It is a striking piece that gives viewers the impression of suddenly being inside one of those rooms where major decisions are made—where the big boys gather around a table to decide the destinies of the world. The film juxtaposes images of such a room with clips from Hollywood movies, featuring powerful characters—evoking the style of films like Top Gun—who appear to be on the verge of entering hidden wars or making decisions that will have enormous consequences.
This is a challenging and thought-provoking piece that, in a bold way, addresses many of the contradictions and power dynamics present in the authoritarian governments that, unfortunately, are often the ones sitting at today’s decision-making tables.
Another artist whose presence I’m truly excited about is Oscar Muñoz, the renowned Colombian artist whose work since a number of years has addressed his own country’s history and its many contradictions. His work for this exhibition is titled Dystopia.
In this case, the work draws inspiration from George Orwell’s iconic novel 1984. As you might recall, the main character in the book has indeed the job of fabricating reality—gathering existing documents, altering their contents, and then destroying the originals. Literally, he is condemned by the system to build new realities.
Muñoz’s Dystopia is a deeply poetic reflection on Orwell’s text. The work consists of a projection in which the letters, words, and pages of the book appear to melt before your eyes. Muñoz often employs photographic techniques in which images interact with water, so featured images or words that dissolve as if they are evaporating or fading away.
This visual language resonates strongly with the history of his country and many dictatorships that made people disappear, erasing identities, and manipulating memories.In Dystopia, Muñoz subjects Orwell’s influential book to the same fate—slowly words and letters disappear, just like the truths it once sought to preserve.
Outside of the main gallery on the first floor—either before entering or upon exiting, depending on your circulation—you will encounter the sound installation by Cally Spooner, British artist, performer, and writer currently based in Turin, Italy. Spooner’s work is truly exceptional in the ways in which it addresses the concept of resistance in the current context of authoritarian societies and the overwhelming flow of information and disinformation.
I love the way Spooner is able to carve out spaces that otherwise go unnoticed. Even when she is in museums or gallery settings, she prefers to work in interstitial spaces. For this exhibition, her piece is installed on the stairs leading to the main gallery. Visitors will hear the voices of children counting in a highly obsessive manner. The work is Principles, and it references the turn of the 19th century, when child labor was legal in most parts of the world. Children were trained to repeat the same task for 20 hours a day, seven days a week, to feed the machinery of the rising capitalism—leaving them with almost no ability to think independently or to live a normal life. In this way, the installation looks at the way human beings can be easily transformed into mechanized, machine-like entities.
In brief these are the contents and thematic threads of the 2025 STATEMENT exhibition.
Spooner’s work is truly exceptional in the ways in which it addresses the concept of resistance in the current context of authoritarian societies and the overwhelming flow of information and disinformation.
It’s interesting that you are focusing on video, film, sound, and process-based installations—media that can not only provoke critical thought but also manipulate reality.
You’re absolutely right. In a way, the idea was to work with time-based works. The concept of time, for me, was very important in shaping this exhibition because even our perception of time today is regulated by the way everything is mediated through the digital. Take Zoom, for example: unless you pay for a subscription, it cuts you off after 45 minutes. If you pay, you get more time. So literally, the digital makes us buy time, and to use both my time and yours we are paying someone else. Time has truly become the measure of how we are condemned, in a sense, to think and work in this moment, even if we love to meet via Zoom as it feels practical.
Of course, this is not new. As we know, this idea that progress makes things more smooth began with the Industrial Revolution—that was the very first moment in which this illusion of progress took hold. Think for example about the invention and use of electricity, which eventually led to Tesla illuminating an entire city. What he promised was “daylight at night”—a triumph of progress that radically changed our perception of time. But now, this same idea of progress is destroying our understanding of time. Do we truly have any “free” time? It has become almost impossible not to be doing something. If you find yourself in a moment of inactivity—say, at an airport—you look around and see everyone on their phone. That little pocket of idle time is immediately turned into something mediated through the digital.
Do we truly have any “free” time? It has become almost impossible not to be doing something.
So for me, it was compelling to work with pieces that, through their own chosen media, explore time—and also engage with the concepts of past, present, and future. There are historical references in the exhibition, of course—such as Orwell’s book—which, in many ways, anticipated so many of today’s urgencies. Not all, but quite a number of them. The idea of someone controlling you—the “Big Brother” of Orwell—has evolved into something different, but it’s still there. We know that Siri listens, that parts of our conversations are recorded, and that tonight, if you Google me or I Google you, we might find things that weren’t visible before.
This also leads us to the concept of algorithmic control, and this idea that what can be counted and calculated is somehow considered more real than what cannot be measured. So yes, you’re right—the choice of media reflects all of this. There is no painting in the exhibition. All of the works are, in some way, related to the digital. Even Agnieszka Kurant’s piece—despite appearing as an amazing and beautifully living and evolving organism—is, in reality, a different way of looking at the chemicals that form the very foundation of our current digitally-informed world.
The idea of someone controlling you—the “Big Brother” of Orwell—has evolved into something different, but it’s still there.
It is confirmed by today’s neuroscience that we hallucinate the world we see. Seeing is like transmitting reality from the outer world into your head. And visual artists are also experts in generating perceptions. Does this somehow explain the power of art?
I like to think that art is very powerful—and I truly believe so. I mean, sometimes when we are confronted with big challenges or huge tragedies, we might wonder about the role of art, and yet art has indeed a role. I do think that art is a way to knowledge. It’s like a philosophical statement—a way to understand the world through a different language. Through art, artists create new words, and therefore, they create new ways to understand what we are dealing with. And that was always, in a way, very clear—even to dictatorships. You know, there’s no dictator, and there’s no moment in the history of the world, in which someone didn’t think about how art could contribute to fabricating their own reality. So art is indeed very powerful. Like everything else, it can also contribute to fabricating its own reality.
Art has a huge role in helping us understand what we are doing and where we are going, through a language that is very specific. Sometimes you might not be able to fully translate a work of art into words—and I think that’s okay. There’s a level at which it’s not necessary to explain a work of art 100%.
I think it’s important, for an exhibition such as this one, to also tell people that it matters to be in the same room, in the same gallery, with the artworks. It’s not the same to visit an exhibition online. Even if the medium is digital, it’s important to be in front of that video while it’s being played, even if it’s a sound piece that you could technically hear elsewhere. It’s important to understand why the artist has chosen a certain area of a building to install her speakers—because there’s an element that otherwise gets lost.
It’s important to remember that art can even have a smell, that it can have a sensitive quality, and that the level of human experience in the direct encounter with art is something very, very precious—something I hope we won’t lose.
I do think that art is a way to knowledge. It’s like a philosophical statement—a way to understand the world through a different language.
I would also like to ask you about the role of art fairs in current times. Are they evolving beyond their original purpose as marketplaces and meeting hubs to become more actively engaged with social and cultural conversations? While art fairs remain closely tied to the market, they also serve as platforms for communicating ideas and sparking dialogue among visitors.
Well, that’s true. You know, art fairs have definitely become places similar to what the ancient Greeks called the agora—the public square where people would meet, exchange information about their lives, conduct business, and discuss many things. In a way, today’s art fairs function as a kind of international agora. You meet people from all over the world. Of course, there are business transactions, and there is also a lot of social interaction. It’s a space where people can actually meet outside of the digital cloud.
In a way, today’s art fairs function as a kind of international agora.
So, it’s an interesting setting where the main focus for galleries is, of course, doing business, but increasingly, art fairs are investing in cultural or non-profit events, such as exhibitions like this one and talks. For Realities Building we will also host conversations with the artists, which are an important component because they allow the audience to see what’s behind the making of an artwork. It’s not just about looking at the finished product, but also about understanding its background and process. That becomes quite a constructive and enriching moment.
As somebody who has a long musuem experience, how do you see the role of public art institutions evolving in light of today’s rapidly changing world? Museums themselves are also undergoing significant transformations.
Yes, museums are changing. Like many other institutions, we all know that they had to face the challenges brought by the pandemic—when people were confined to their homes, unable to move freely or visit physical spaces. During that time, many museums invested heavily in presenting their projects through digital platforms.
Now, museums are increasingly focusing on education and on reaffirming their role as places where people of all ages can freely encounter multiple realities. The beauty of a museum, its exhibitions and collections lies in its ability to act as a microcosm of a much larger universe. For instance, you can walk through one floor of a museum and experience works that range from painting to sound to digital media, created by artists from different corners of the world. Each work offers a unique vision of reality, allowing you to travel the world by moving just a few steps. That’s something truly beautiful.
Museums are increasingly focusing on education and on reaffirming their role as places where people of all ages can freely encounter multiple realities.
At the same time, the notion of ‘public’ has become more complicated. In many countries, we have seen the erosion of public spaces and of the very concept of what is public and free—whether it’s water, land, or other resources. These are huge challenges. So, whatever little pieces of public space and public institutions we still have, I believe it is essential to protect and defend them.
What do you think is the rarest or most elusive quality in contemporary art today? Is there something vital we are collectively missing?
It is an interesting question – reality can be much more elusive than art.
Perhaps, what is missing is our education in thinking through art—I mean we are mainly taught to study the history of art. You actually understand art better if you know about about the process of making art. The longer I work as a curator, the more I realize how vital it is, whenever possible, to know how an artwork is physically and technically made. We often share a lot of information about an artwork’s content, but rarely do we go as far as explaining which pigments or materials the artist is using, where they come from, where they were extracted, or which kind of stone a sculpture is made of—and why. There is always a reason, and these details reveal fascinating hidden histories that deserve to be shared.
The longer I work as a curator, the more I realize how vital it is, whenever possible, to know how an artwork is physically and technically made.
I don’t think art today is lacking any quality. I think today there are amazing artists at work. Maybe our willingness to engage deeply with art, is what’s sometimes missing. It would be great if schools taught not only math and literature, but also something like how to mix raw earth to produce pigment. Almost nobody teaches you that as a child—unless you attend an artschool. But once you start thinking about how physical things are produced, you realize there is always another story that an artwork can tell.
In a way, as humans, we are missing physicality in our world today because we live so much in our screens and in our heads. Art, however, can be a tool to bring us back to it—if we start to look at it more carefully and experience it with all our senses, not just our eyes. But for that, we need time. We also need to relearn how to look. What would be your advice?
My advice would be: look with all your senses. Truly immerse yourself in the experience and cherish direct, unmediated engagement. Artists such as Olafur Eliasson have explored how direct experience versus mediated experience fundamentally changes our perception. Even if it is physically tiring—standing, walking, sitting, feeling your feet in your shoes, with your back aching—these bodily experiences carry knowledge. They are ways in which your body understands the world. We experience reality through all our senses, not just through sight or hearing, and engaging with art can help us expand and refine that kind or wider understanding.
We experience reality through all our senses, not just through sight or hearing, and engaging with art can help us expand and refine that kind or wider understanding.
And my last question is about Vienna itself. I believe you have been there many times. Are there still things that continue to surprise you about the city?
Well, I think Vienna is an amazing city. It’s, of course, right in the center of Europe, and in a way, it’s a crossroads of many cultures—coming from the east, the west, the north, and the south. The city’s physical geography makes it a true meeting point of cultures. Not only does Vienna have a rich history, it also has a long tradition of welcoming refugees from other countries. At many points in European history, people came to Vienna seeking refuge. So, for me, it’s an honor to work in this city.
Thank you very much.
Tile image: Marcella Beccaria, Curator of STATEMENT. © Courtesy of the artist
