Goswin Schwendinger
RADICAL EMPATHY, Goldsmiths University, 2019
Goswin Schwendinger’s practice is positioned on the peripheries of science and knowledge. A field where questions of explainability and plausibility instantly arise and are often left unanswered. Schwendinger offers us a reading of a world where possible responses can perhaps be seen, felt and heard but not necessarily explained. It is in this grey zone, a liminal space, that today’s world needs to be navigated and where separation and dualisms shall ideally turn into the possibilities of inclusion. A wishful thought perhaps, but one that Schwendinger draws from.
RADICAL EMPATHY is an immersive moment that invites contemplation of the World Condition. Four large photographic prints made from digital files that could be seen as propaganda for change.
In the centre is the video work Occurring Glade (Onkey/Donkey). This film piece was produced on a smart phone and is displayed using an analogue monitor. It portraits virtual occurrences of the non-physical in moving and evolving shapes and overlays it with excerpts of archival and filmed clips. This technique highlights both the drama and the absurdity of our world. It is also in this threshold that today’s world is defined, negotiated and understood. The shift from the physical to the digital realm emphasises a need for the realisation of the acerbities of binary and normative individualism. RADICAL EMPATHY is an urgent call for immediate de-programming.