Nadia Plesner. Survival of the Fittest

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Which tools and strategies do we use to secure our survival in the media reality in which we move about? What occurs in the space between herd instincts and artificial intelligence?

In Nadia Plesner’s new solo exhibition ‘Survival of the Fittest’, the physical and virtual room converge and invite us into Plesner’s captivating pixilated universe of painting, drawing, sculpture and art installation which in unison refer to survival of the fittest in the digital food chain of social media.

For ‘Survival of the Fittest’ Plesner has created a number of new works in direct dialogue between reality and the digital world. The contrast between the physical work of her artistic craft and the pixilated effect of the photos converted into pearl mosaics of wondrous rich detailing, allures the viewer to experience the work at various distances. Viewed from a distance the images stand sharply. But as we move closer to the surface, the eye no longer read the pearls as pixels as they efface close-up, and thus the image becomes abstract.

Through her art, Plesner explores the role of humanity in the virtual age where we can swipe through anything: from war and destruction to potential sex partners, food and products. The digital screen has become our window to the world through which we reflect ourselves, not only in our closest circle but in millions of people. Hiding behind a shield of online personas created from our own fragmented reality, we position ourselves in society as redesigned versions of ourselves and the life we are living.

But are we in fact positioned on top of the digital food chain or have we managed to create a layer of our existing world where even we cannot keep up? From an evolutionary perspective, the human species outran all other species in the race to the top of the food chain in such a pace that neither our environment nor man were able to keep up. Presently, we live in two parallel worlds – the physical and the virtual whereas our brains and minds are still encoded with animal instincts in the roles as respectively the food gatherer and the hunter. How do we secure our own survival in a digital ecosystem created by ourselves?

Selfishness is vital for the survival of any animal. We were created to look out for ourselves first and foremost. And we still do, just as all animals do. Then, where do we draw the line between man and animal?