SPIELSALON MARCK
Berlin
Oct 24 — Dec 07, 2024
SPIELSALON MARCK
MARCK
OPENING: 24 OCTOBER 2024 | 7 PM
AOA;87 BERLIN
A coin and three or more matching symbols, often in the form of numbers or fruit, combined with a bit of luck, lead to a win. The payout comes with a clatter, the sound of metal colliding – the sound of joy. Or does it fail to materialize?
Confronted with the typical urban, pop-cultural aesthetic of gaming arcades, visitors face a shop window veiled by a heavy red velvet curtain. In front of it are flickering LED signs, an aging yet enticing slot machine, and the sign: SPIELSALON MARCK. Such places of amusement seem familiar, yet something feels unsettling. We find ourselves on Sophienstraße, an area that enchants with the typical old-town charm of Spandauer Vorstadt. In the shop window, there’s a slot machine, but it’s not adorned with the familiar symbols and lettering. Instead, it reads: “INVEST IN ART.” A call that doesn’t seem absurd in the context of a gallery exhibition, but here it takes on a much more commanding effect.
MARCK’s exhibition guides visitors through a world full of fun, greed, addiction, arbitrariness, sensory overload, randomness and predictability, gain and loss – societal themes or even an analogy and critique of the art market? Instead of typical symbols, what appears before the players’ eyes are artworks, Artsy rankings, and artist portraits. The art market as a game of chance, with artists, gallery owners, curators, and collectors as fellow players?
Slot machines operate on the principle of pseudorandomness, where events that appear random at first glance are actually predetermined and repeatable through specific algorithms and set initial values. Pseudorandom number generators produce sequences of numbers that seem like random values but always deliver the same sequence given identical inputs.
So, do we live in a world of pseudo-realities, where everything is predetermined, and chance and randomness are merely illusions created by flashy, colorful lights and sounds? Is what determines us, and what piques our interest, ultimately the result of a pre-programmed system? If so, the question arises: How free are we in our decisions when they are merely the product of invisible mechanisms and algorithms? Are even our aesthetic preferences and appreciation of art just the result of algorithmic randomness?
Is art – like the slot machine – ultimately just a marketplace governed by opaque algorithms? The artists themselves could become figures in a game ruled by data points and rankings, while the supposed “chance” merely repeats what has already proven successful. If everything is a predictable pattern, what remains of the authenticity of art and the creative process? Are we, in the end, caught in a cycle that makes us believe we have choices while we merely act along pre-drawn paths? Art and culture as a mirror of our society – a game whose rules were written long ago.
MARCK, born in 1964 in Zurich, is an internationally recognized artist known for his innovative combination of sculpture and video. His video sculptures transcend classical artistic boundaries, creating multisensory works that evoke both emotional and intellectual responses. Each piece is handmade, emphasizing materiality and physical presence, distinguishing MARCK from the digitally-dominated art world.
At the heart of his work is the exploration of societal and individual limitations. MARCK questions established norms and challenges viewers to rethink their perspectives on social constraints. His works, conceived as “fragments of our mental cinema,” leave room for personal interpretation, making the viewer an active participant in the artistic process.
His works have been acquired by numerous renowned institutions, including the ZKM | Center for Art and Media Technology in Karlsruhe, the Grande Finale Museum in France, the Dosan Artcenter in Korea, and the Artcenter Istanbul, and are highly sought after by private collectors. Since 2007, MARCK has been featured in over 200 solo and group exhibitions internationally.
