If we learned one thing from the days of the lockdown and its psychological side effects - is that the notion of the virtual, as mani- fested in a new breed of online culture, is more than ever untethered from reality. For many of us, this rupture provoked radical returns to analogue production processes, but now with a new impetus - Environmental anxieties have reframed much of the discourse around contemporary art practice. This “return to the physical world” also suggests a return of a special kind of knowledge production that was exclusively developed in the networked cultures of the digital realm, now transferred and transformed into analogue procedures.

Back in the 90s, The THING, NY became known for building the first ever international net community of artists and art-related projects. This exhibition groups its founders and many active members living in New York throughout the 90s, 00s and 10s that were part of this community. A few friends and colleagues also worked closely with THE THING.

When New York was experiencing 9-11, it produced its most dramatic change in that decade, dramatically transforming artistic practices. A similar looming time of uncertainty as it seems prevalent today produced several responsive strategies. The works in this exhibition are reflections of this mindset. There are also two historic works included: Peter Fend and Eva+Franco Mattes. Coming from the aforementioned time in NY, they now indicate an uncanny actuality.

the thing is collectively counteracts the myth of the individual that has been granted new life under neo-liberalism’s fractured, #mefirst precarity. It challenges the countless unseen connections that continue to nurture and sustain life. As mystics from Rumi to Cage attest, there is nothing we aren’t connected with. We are only the sum of our relationships.