Memorialization Request

The exhibition title refers to a Facebook function that enables the account of a deceased user to be “memorialized” in order to prevent hackers and malicious acquaintances from taking control of the account. After successfully completing the form and attaching a proof confirming that a particular person has passed away, no further setting changes are permitted to the account, no friends can be added or removed and no existing content can be removed or altered. Moreover, memorialized accounts no longer show up under “People You May Know” or in Birthday reminders.

The exhibition examines the modern, digital legacy that raises a range of questions:
How should we deal with traces that relatives have left in social media when we don’t have access to their passwords?
How should we deal with their collections that are not stored in the physical space?
How could new testimonies where relatives gain access to personal data be formulated in the digital era?
What do we want to leave behind us anyway and what role can a conscious decluttering play?
How should we maintain the digital life work in the form of selfies, blogs, posts, films, music collections, messages, email exchange etc.

Sebastian Mügge (b. 1981) and Christoph Mügge (b. 1983) were both born in Bonn, Germany and live in Sweden. Sebastian got his MFA degree from Umeå Academy of Fine Arts in 2011 and Christoph studied at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf where he received his diploma in 2013. Together they have exhibited at The Koppel Project Hive (London, UK), Croxhapox (Ghent, BE), Kluckyland (Vienna, AT), Galleri Rostrum (Malmö, SE), Sinne (Helsinki, FI), PARTcours / ParKUNST (Brussels, BE), Kristianstads konsthall (Kristianstad, SE), Vestfold Kunstsenter (Tønsberg, NO), Södertälje konsthall (Södertälje, SE), OK Corral (Copenhagen, DK), Supermarket (Stockholm, SE), Verkstad konsthall (Norrköping, SE), ID:I Galleri (Stockholm, SE), DAS ESSZIMMER – space for art+ (Bonn, DE) and Kunsthaus Rhenania (Cologne, DE).

After Corona cancellations it is now the third attempt to realize this exhibition at Studio17, and due to travel restrictions the artists will unfortunately not be present. Instead the installation will be done by the gallery team after the artists’ instructions.