In the search for happiness, we are like the donkey that has a carrot held out to it. In their duo show Routine & Happiness, artists Joaquin Margulis Luchsinger (Chile) & Mari Nagem (Brazil) contrast the dutiful monotony of everyday life with a quest for the idea of happiness, employing such techniques as video, sound art, multimedia, painting and installation.

Mari Nagem’s work demonstrates how the idea of happiness is commodified and used as a motivational tool to keep us happy in what are often monotonous lives. More and more often we turn towards our digital devices for distraction, reward, companionship, and confidence. Continually, we find ourselves surrounded by motivational imagery and symbols of happiness, paradise and fortune. At the same time, while we recognize their artifice and elusiveness, we are still pulled in by their primal allure. Nagem’s work expresses the artifice of the pursuit of happiness through exploration of the quantification and manufacturing of human emotion.

In his Sound-art installations, Joaquin Margulis Luchsinger amplifies the 24/7 buzz of work and economics into an aural smog of productivity, in which the Wheels of Industry keep on turning and turning. After a while, the repetitiveness becomes Zen-like, and allows for the perception of in-between tones and reflective nuances.

In direct contrast with these repetitive and restricted motions stands Joaquin’s collage-like painting, which merges abstraction with schematic geometric elements (recalling his background in architecture and the designs for his sound installations). They represent an autobiographical homage to the way in which the act of painting liberated the artist from the more conventional and restrictive lifestyles that he protests. Luchsinger juxtaposes the methodical mechanics of his sound sculptures with abstract improvisation in his paintings, creating a conversation between external and internal noise.

While there is extensive pressure towards conformity on a social level, we are also expected to achieve self-optimization and an idealized individuality. Both artists work to challenge apathy and disengagement and to reveal the hollowness of a life ruled by routine or the pursuit of preconceived notions of happiness.

Mari Nagem and Joaquin Margulis Luchsinger show their work together for the first time in Berlin with an exhibition at SomoS between May 15th – May 26th 2018.
Opening reception: May 15th 6-9pm, entry free.

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About Mari Nagem

Mari Nagem (b. Belo Horizonte, 1984) lives and works in São Paulo. She received a master’s degree in visual arts from the Haute École d’Art et Design de Genève. Her current work explores the artificiality of landscapes and human interventions, investigating the transformations of the environment through technology and by capturing images using digital media. She is interested in how human thoughts and actions can transform the environment, creating artificial horizons and alternate realities. more ->

About Joaquin Margulis Luchsinger

Joaquin Margulis Luchsinger was born in Santiago, Chile in 1990. He graduated with maximum distinction from the Escuela de Artes Visuales de la Universidad Finisterrae. Luchsinger’s work is driven by constant experimentation with sound. He divides his artistic production into two lines of work: exploring sound and noise through objects and materials, and applying and visualizing concepts drawn from the world of sounds in different artistic mediums. more ->

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This exhibition is kindly supported by Copy to Go, Berlin.

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