artist | Joséphine Kaeppelin

Strasbourg

About

Quick facts

Joséphine Kaeppelin is a French artist who takes as point of departure the use of machines and the interaction between human presence and a production system dominated by technology

'My works are initially based on the use of machines. These devices are at the same time means of production, co-authors and food for thought. By putting forward use and gestures, I focus attention on human presence within a production system dominated by technology. By using pre-defined formats, standards and default settings, I experiment with the likelihood of re-appropriation by usage.

Indeed, using software, like Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, or machines in an opposite way or diverting a program from its purpose can be understood as an act of resistance, a way to create a space for free thought in a defined system. I bypass a program in order to show the structure behind the system. I would like to sharpen attention in relation to an action, strengthen the will of a human user interacting with a system and to likewise enable a kind of self-realisation within the context of work and production. I often work in collaboration, with machines firstly, but then with a stone carver, a textile company, a conductor, etc.'

Joséphine uses dialogue to explore the conversation, the understanding and the listening as means and tools to reveal and extract a reality. More recently, she focuses her attention on the question of the imminent transition of our society by researching about such issues such as work and employment, religion and the human needs for spirituality, symbols and language, mobility, attention vs distraction and so on. She is interested to see how we could rethink human activities, time, work and society in the actual context of general automation. Read less