Studio Martha Schwindling

Those who ghost make themselves immortal – because the sudden and unexplained break-off of a relationship does not provide the final closure, but leaves all ends open. With the rise of social media, the ghost-like disappearance of people, referred to as “ghosting”, has become a means of communication which is used to avoid unwelcome conflicts. But these live on in new shapes, as hauntings, recurrences and echo effects of former relationships. Ghosting goes far beyond unfinished online chats: ghosts of the past are a part of our present. They tell stories with open endings, mix different levels of time and revive forgotten places. Ghosts can thus respond to a present marked by crises, financial speculation, social uprooting and medial acceleration. GHOSTING asks how, against this background, the haunting of the past helps us transcend the limitations of the present – and thus facilitates new readings of the future.

The almost six-month exhibition is presented in two chapters. The changing spatial situation tells different stories, opens up new perspectives on the supposedly familiar and highlights the factor of time as a turning moment.

The exhibition design takes the furnishings and spatial features of M.1 as a starting point, playing with the appearance and disappearance of remnants from the past. A group of little ghosts populates the space and provides comfort and companionship to visitors while also creating a bit of unrest in the space.