Social Isolation, the second exhibition of the new Berlin based art gallery Galerie TOOLBOX, consists of drawings by ten young artists discussing themes of social alienation from a variety of perspectives. The exhibition is based on a concentrated drawing workshop occurring in the gallery, during which every artist implements one work and participates in the creation of one collective work.
The exhibition approaches the social aspects of modern culture from the concept of alienation. What does alienation mean in modern Europe? How can it be treated with the means of art?
The idea of social alienation originates from the philosophy of Georg Hegel (1770–1831). The term of alienation has been especially connected with the theory of Karl Marx. It is one of the most used theories in social sciences and also in modern art.
Alienation deals with the vanishing of human and natural values in a fragmented and objectified social reality. The working culture, with its emphasis on competitiveness, also escalates social relations. The meaning of human dignity and labour is blurred, when man is above all required to conform to be a part of machinery. The satisfaction of understanding totalities, like finishing a work from beginning to end, is a natural human desire. The structural violence of the society, such as fragmentation that creates weakness or connecting human dignity to the ideal of productivity alienates man from nature, other people, his or her own feelings and needs. We require a human dignity that is independent of economy, production and consumption, a freedom to a more comprehensive life in order to be able to recognize man and nature in connection to us, belonging to our own humanity.
Social Isolation brings artists used to independent and lonely work, to work in a commonly shared space. The exhibition and workshop enable the sharing of art and work, and the joy of producing a work from beginning to end.
Artists of exhibition are Maiju Heikkilä (Fin), Anna Tahkola (Fin), Elisabeth Buset (Can), Janne Kärkkäinen (Fin), Sampsa Indgrén (Fin), Jonna Sivonen (Fin), Anne Rossi (Fin), Erkki Nampajärvi (Fin), Matti Vainio (Fin) ja Annika Bergvik-Forsander (Fin).
Galerie TOOLBOX is a cooperative of seven Finnish artists in the centre of Berlin, in Mitte. The gallery represents Finnish and international art from the perspective of social questions.