ARCTIC LANDSCAPE I-IV, 2024
Postcards

I produced this work in the frame of my fellowship at RIFS Forschungsinstitut für Nachhaltigkeit | am GFZ in Potsdam (2023/24) when I explored how stereotyped depictions of the Arctic, long entangled with colonial interests, persist and still echo in today’s contemporary visual culture.

The landscapes depicted on the postcards were assembled from some of the most popular Arctic motifs found in a major image database. The most frequently used images from these collections tend to portray stereotypical vast, pristine landscapes of snow and ice. When people are included, they are typically represented as tourists or scientists, motifs featuring locals are rare, and when they are shown, it is often in stereotypical situations.

[Swaantje Güntzel, ARCTIC LANDSCAPE I–IV, 2024, postcards (10,5 x 14,8 cm), postcard racks, variable dimensions]

Foto installation view: Tobias Hübel

#art #conceptualart #kunst #konzeptkunst #contemporaryart #zeitgenössischekunst #fellowship #rifs #potsdam #arktis #arctic #postcard #postkarte #landschaft #landscape #stereotypes #imagedatabank #bilddatenbank #stereotype #schnee #snow #eis #ice #eislandschaft #schneelandschaft #artfellow #tourismus #turism #arcticturism #darkturism

New Fellowship

I am kind of overwhelmed that I have been accepted as a fellow in the "art in progess" program of Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg in Lower Saxony.

Building on my previous research on the Arctic (Fellowship at RIFS Forschungsinstitut für Nachhaltigkeit | am GFZ 2023/24) I will now explore how the Arctic is represented on social media, with a particular focus on the phenomenon of AI-generated animal rescue videos staged against Arctic landscapes. The project examines social media platforms, while also considering other platforms where cultural phenomena are constructed. In addition it investigates how scientific institutions engaged with Arctic research present themselves online and use social media platforms. The project seeks to determine what conclusions can be drawn from this material about human-nonhuman relations as well as human-nature relations, and what this reveals about our reality within the context of the anthropogenic climate crisis.

The fellowship will start in September 2026.

In the frame of the fellowship I will cooperate with Dr Melanie Bergmann of Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), who has kindly agreed to join me on this adventure. It is planned to show the results of my fellowship in an exhibition at Syker Vorwerk - Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst in 2027, stay tuned!

Images: Screenshots of TikTok videos (account: whispers-wild) created by AI, showing animal rescues in Arctic landscapes (8.6.2025).

#art #conceptualart #fellowship #artinprogress #hansewissenschaftskolleg #socialmedia #arctic #arktis #sykervorwerk #awi #rifs #künstlerischeforschung #ki #animalrescue

The book "The Shape of Recovery" brings together reflections, practices, and analytical perspectives emerging from Ukraine’s ongoing processes of struggle, adaptation, and renewal. It is being launched in Berlin on the 23 January 2026.
The launch event will take place on 23 January at Café Tiergarten in Berlin beginning 18:30
#Ukraine #RIFS #book #Berlin
https://www.rifs-potsdam.de/en/events/shape-recovery

Eisbär / Diamond Painting

Picture of a polar bear in a zoo enclosure, prepared as a diamond painting design. The image was created using the DALL.E 2 AI and the search term ‘polar bear’. The AI responded to the search by generating images of polar bears in captivity and not a single image of one in the wild (the search was performed on June 17th, 2024).

The work was realized in the frame of my fellowhip at Research Institute for Sustainability I at GFZ (RIFS) Potsdam where I worked on the representation and reception of the Arctic in images.

[Swaantje Güntzel, Eisbär / Diamond Painting, 2024, various plastics, 38.3 × 38.3 cm (frame)]

Foto: Tobias Hübel

#art #conceptualart #contemporaryart #polarbear #eisbär #konzeptkunst #kunst #zeitgenössischekunst #diamondpainting #ai #ki #dalle2 #zoo #tobiashübel #rifs #forschungsinstitutfürnachhaltigkeit #researchinstituteforsustainability #potsdam #fellowship #artfellow #kunstfellow #zooarchitektur

Just imagine, we keep saying that #AI is to unleash innovation, and improve things. I don’t see how these massive layoffs improve anything- https://www.techradar.com/pro/more-massive-layoffs-in-store-for-amazon-workers-as-the-company-pledges-billions-to-ai #layoffs #resourceAction #RIFs