The last sunset - Remains of a Metaverse Civilization
The science fiction novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, published in 1992, speaks for the first time of a metaverse (German: Metaversum) in which people interact with each other through avatars in a virtual reality; a former fantasy that seems to become more and more conceivable in recent times.
With the work Remains of a Metaverse Civilization, Antoine Felix Bürcher opens up uncharted landscapes in which representational relics find themselves in an abstract vision between future, past and present:
Dark, massive components, mix with filigree, figurative moments. Temporally as well as geographically, the sculptures of the artist are impossible to classify, they are reminiscent of volcanic and glacial landscapes at the same time. Individual objects recall an image of sacred icons, others establish a reference to a human, analog influence, which disappears again a short time later. The precise and sterile presentation of individual works also reinforces an archival and conservational character of the objects and underscores the relevance of the individual relics. The result is a snapshot in which Bürcher's glass sculptures function as contemporary witnesses of the story of user K567, a child born in the metaverse, who’s history remains unexplained.
Bürcher's work speaks of an archaeology of the future, a fictional vision and its clash with our present reality. He explores the materiality of found objects, asks about their history, gives them new forms and meanings and puts them in a new context to each other in a space of multiple time zones and memories. The result is a research into fictional worlds, a reflection on time, in which the design of our present reality, as well as its sustainability and transience, inevitably takes center stage.
Text written by Marius Quiblier, Curator, Plattform23, Espace Arlaud, Lausanne, Switzerland
