equinox 4
March 2018 with Jenna Sutela and Vadim Otto Ursus
For our opening we are excited to show Jenna Sutela's video work: Nam-Gut (the microbial breakdown of language), 2017, 18'50", as our fourth equinox exhibition. The video presents a homebrew computer operated by a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast and producing a new kind of language. A text about code laws and the gut brain, inspired by an ancient Sumerian incantation, or nam-shub*, is processed by tea, sugar, acetobacter, saccharomyces, brettanomyces, lactobacillus, pediococcus, gluconacetobacter kombuchae, zygosaccharomyces kombuchaensis, and Jumbo**.
The work is based on Gut-Machine Poetry (2017), an online commission by Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art realized in collaboration with Vincent de Belleval and Johanna Lundberg. Voice: Jessica Edwards
*See also Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash (1992).
**A program that cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter developed to solve anagrams based on the actions inside a biological cell.
At our opening Vadim Otto Ursus will serve savory appetizers. Vadim has worked at Maaemo, Noma and Loco among others famed restaurants.
We will also have unique craft beer especially made for this occasion from Toni Gogin and Erin Lang's fermented cocktails.
Vadim Otto Ursus, Fermentation finger food
Jenna Sutela and her studio work with open biological and computational systems to create living sculptures, images, and sound. Based in Berlin, Sutela's work has been presented internationally, including at Castello di Rivoli, Turin (2025); Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève (2024); Swiss Institute, New York (2023); Helsinki Biennale (2023); Haus der Kunst, Munich (2022); Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki (2022); Shanghai Biennial (2021); Liverpool Biennial (2021); Kunsthall Trondheim (2020); Serpentine Galleries, London (2019); and Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2019). She has been a visiting artist at La Becque, MIT, and Callie’s Berlin. Her publications include the exhibition catalog NO NO NSE NSE (Ed. Hessler, Koenig Books 2020), the nimiia vibié LP (PAN 2019), and the artist's book Orgs (Garret Publications 2017).
Vadim Otto Ursus, born in Berlin Mitte, is dedicated to the discovery and revival of contemporary and traditional culinary techniques and products. His particular interests include the collection and preparation of wild plants and fruits, fermentation and conservation methods, and the cultivation of aromas and textures. To broaden his knowledge and skills, he has travelled the world, working in the most innovative and influential contemporary restaurants, including KOKS on the Faroe Islands; MAAEMO in Oslo; LOCO in Lisbon; as well as QUINTONIL, and NOMA in Mexico.