Credits: Installation view Kunsthaus Baselland 2024/2025. Photo: Gina Folly.  © Kunsthaus Baselland and Gina Folly

Contamination in Obsolescence

This site-specific installation Contamination in Obsolescence, 2024 explores the interplay between technology and the environment. Rather than viewing “Away from Keyboard” and digital spaces as separate spheres, the artist highlights the interwoven nature of the analog and virtual worlds. This concept is further developed in the series Contamination in Obsolescence (2024): the seemingly random and chaotic arrangement of objects—such as a chair, an easel, and a palm tree—is, in fact, meticulously curated by Niedermeier.

Drawing inspiration from AI prompts, the installation references (mis)combinations, or so-called “glitches.” These glitches possess transformative potential. Etymologically derived from the Yiddish word “gletshn” and the German verb “glitschen,” the term denotes “errors, malfunctions, or disruptions,” which carry within them the possibility of societal change. Contamination in Obsolescence thus examines the resistant and unpredictably creative potential inherent in system failures.

This is reflected in Niedermeier’s choice of materials, which include plastic, cables, raffia, straw, wood, and textile remnants. Once valuable goods, now associated with environmental degradation and a throwaway culture, these materials symbolize both decay and innovation.