LAS Art Foundation announces THE SOUL STATION, the first solo presentation by Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley in Germany, which will be on view at Halle am Berghain from 12 July to 13 October 2024. In addition to a new commissioned work, THE SOUL STATION presents an overview of Brathwaite-Shirley’s video games from the last five years.
Image above: Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, THE SOUL STATION, 2024. Installationsansicht der Halle am Berghain, Berlin. Von LAS Art Foundation in Auftrag gegeben. Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Künstlerin; LAS Art Foundation. Foto: Alwin Lay
THE SOUL STATION invites visitors to explore their own ethical and moral decision-making processes in game-based installations and fictional universes, questioning far-reaching structures and histories of marginalisation. The work YOU CAN’T HIDE ANYTHING, developed especially for the exhibition, will be shown in two episodes; the second episode will be shown for the first time on 12 September during Berlin Art Week.
In the Halle am Berghain, the work YOU CAN’T HIDE ANYTHING, commissioned by LAS, stands at the centre of an immersive and eerie landscape created by Brathwaite-Shirley. Its architecture is reminiscent of “Low Poly PlayStation 2” games from the early 2000s and atmospherically prepares us for the ghostly creatures that appear during the course of the game. The game tells the story of a society similar to our own, in which a radical upheaval has recently taken place: a successful revolution against globalised enslavement and a triumph over the former oppressors. The game is played according to a voting procedure that allows visitors to decide the progress of the game. The setting consists of a central gaming chair surrounded by player spectators and thus reflects the collective decision-making process.
YOU CAN’T HIDE ANYTHING is a highlight of the journey through the exhibition space and builds on works by Brathwaite-Shirley in which the audience functions as an artistic medium. On arrival, visitors are each given a “SOUL CARD”, a token that can be used to register the progress of the game and their own decisions. This can be done at the “SOUL STATIONS” within the exhibition, which function similarly to checkpoints in video games, but is also possible online. The journey through the exhibition stations invites visitors to examine their perception, their decisions and their own prejudices.
In the words of Brathwaite-Shirley: you enter a space / this space will show you your soul / it allows you / to confront your past, your present and your future / you may not like what you see / you may not be comfortable with it / you may find it hard to stay in control / but isn’t that where the real work begins? / none of you are perfect / you can all improve / admit your mistakes / admit your failures / look closely at where you are / show your despair, fear, hope, depression, enthusiasm, tears, intolerance, joy, despair, utopia, mistakes, anger, pain, pleasure / show your whole self.
THE SOUL STATION presents a comprehensive overview of Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley’s oeuvre with works from the past five years. Together they trace an artistic practice that combines lived experience with speculative fiction to illuminate positions and histories that are often simplistically represented or even disregarded. Highlights of the installation include the works Into the Storm (2021), Invasion Pride (2022) and THE REBIRTHING ROOM (2024).
Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley: THE SOUL STATION is co-curated by Boris Magrini (Senior Curator, LAS Art Foundation) and Mawena Yehouessi, in collaboration with Agnessa Schmudke (Assistant Curator, LAS Art Foundation). The presentation will be accompanied by a public programme of workshops and performances at Halle am Berghain.
About Danielle Brathwaite- Shirley
Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley (pronoun Danielle/they) lives in Berlin and graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art in London in 2019. Brathwaite-Shirley’s work often combines animation, sound, performance and video game development. Brathwaite-Shirley is interested in exploring stories that counter misrepresentation, oppression and repression, with a focus on Black and transgender communities.
In this way, Brathwaite-Shirley archives and anticipates narratives outside the mainstream in order to counteract the dangers of tokenisation or social oblivion. By actively incorporating visitors’ decisions into the installations, Brathwaite-Shirley examines not only collective and political responsibility but also the consequences of individual decisions on processes of marginalisation.
Brathwaite-Shirley’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions and performances at Studio Voltaire, London, UK (2024); SCAD, Savannah, USA (2023); Art Night Dundee, UK (2023); Villa Arson, Nice, France (2023); FACT, Liverpool, UK (2022); David Kordansky, Los Angeles, USA (2022); Project Arts Centre, Dublin, Ireland (2022); Skånes konstförening, Malmö, Sweden (2022); arebyte Gallery, London, UK (2021); QUAD, Derby, UK (2021); Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, USA (2021); Tate Modern, London, UK (2020); Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea, UK (2020); Science Gallery, London, UK (2020) and MU Hybrid Art House, Eindhoven, Netherlands (2020). Brathwaite-Shirley’s work has been shown in group exhibitions including Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement, Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève, Geneva, Switzerland (2024); Julia Stoschek Foundation, Berlin (2022); Münchner Kammerspiele, Munich (2019); Les Urbaines, Lausanne, Switzerland (2019) and Barbican, London, UK (2018).
WANN?
Opening: Friday, 12. July 2024
Exhibition dates: Friday, 12. July until Sunday, 13. October 2024
WHERE?
Halle am Bergain
Am Wriezener bhf,
10243 Berlin
