Peter Waibel

Biography

Theoretical Works

Vaibel’s theoretical interests are tied to the influence of technology on perception, communication, and the production of knowledge. In his concept of the post-media state, he examines the changing relationship between artistic media within the context of digital culture. His interest in the social and institutional conditions of art is also evident in his curatorial practice—the exhibition becomes a space to investigate the mechanisms of producing and disseminating artistic meaning.

Exhibitions

This topic was explored in the project «Global Contemporary Art: Artistic Worlds After 1989, ” which took place at ZKM in 2011–2012. The exhibition examined the shifts in the art world following 1989—the globalization of the art market, the emergence of new artistic centers, and the reevaluation of the traditional division between center and periphery. The project was linked to the research program „Global Art and Museums“ and investigated how institutions shape the perception of contemporary art.[2]

This issue is illustrated by Mladen Stilinović’s work, «The artist who doesn’t speak English is not an artist» (1994), which ironically comments on the dominance of the English language and its role in international artistic recognition. Hans Belting’s, Andrea Budenzig’s, and Peter Weibel’s collection, Global Contemporary Art and the Emergence of New Artistic Worlds, develops a similar theme by examining the multiplicity of artistic worlds in the context of globalization.[3]

In the exhibition «Global Activism» (Global Activism, ZKM, 2013–2014), Waibel addressed political protests and forms of civil self-organization. The exposition included photographs, films, video recordings, blogs, and social media documents. A visual example is Jörg Pahe’s photograph, «Illegal laser projection, Free Pussy Riot, Berlin, ” which captured a form of public political expression. In the project description, the curator uses the concept of „performative democracy, ” wherein citizens express political positions through public actions and online communications.[4]

Veybel’s convergence of activism and art is termed «artivism» [4]. This approach allows artistic means to be viewed as part of political action. Simultaneously, the question arises: does the function of protest change when its documentation finds a home in a museum space?

In the exhibition «Open Codes: Life in Digital Worlds, ” the subject of study was digital codes and their influence on everyday life.[5] A central piece of the project was the interactive installation „YOU: YOUR: CODE, ” created by Bernd Lintermann and Peter Waibel. The viewer watches as their reflection gradually transforms into a digital model, and then into a code readable by a machine.[6] The work proposes the idea: „A person is a collection of codes.”[6] The installation translates the theoretical discussion of digital identity into embodied experience—the visitor personally becomes a participant in the technological transformation of the image.

Description of the Curatorial Method and Approach

In Peter Weibel’s curatorial practice, four interconnected principles can be identified.

A key characteristic of the Vaybel method is that the exhibition becomes a space for the interaction of artistic works, documents, scholarly materials, and technological experiments. This approach expands the functions of curation—it incorporates research work and the organization of public discourse.

However, a contradiction emerges in his practice. While the exhibitions explore the mechanisms of power, the art market, and digital culture, they themselves depend on institutional selection and the methods of presenting the material. The museum dictates which works the viewer will see and in what context they will receive them. Therefore, Vaibel’s curatorship can be viewed as an attempt to critically examine the systems of which the exhibition institution itself remains a part.