Solo exhibition by Tobi Keck.

Exhibition runs until 30 June 2025

Like an inescapable mantra, Tobi Keck repeats the motif of the Cambrian trilobite over and over again by the hundreds and thousands. As one of the most frequently occurring complex creatures in the Earth's early history, it stands as an icon for life on Earth. The exhibition is a conceptual homage to the prehistoric crustacean, presented in various forms and media. In addition, the long-extinct animal is represented by a creature that is actually much more visually than evolutionarily related to it: the widely known woodlouse, also known colloquially as the woodlouse, leads an inconspicuous existence on the ground, where it devours all kinds of organic waste and thus plays an indispensable role in maintaining fundamental processes in the ecosystem. Even though they are not direct descendants of the trilobites, the isopods embody a playful time-travelling experience for the viewer and build an aesthetic bridge between hundreds of millions of years. Finally, abstracted into text characters, the creature metaphorically reaches the most recent stage of development in the form of the (:}}) emoticon. We used these typed combinations to add emotional colouring to written messages long before emoji images became commonplace. An overall installation of objects, prints, videos and living individuals paints a bigger picture of (re)production versus consumption, copy versus original and past versus future.

Flyer design by #TweeWhistler