BERLIN.- The age of the fleeting digital image is under scrutiny at the Villa Heike Kunstverein, where the exhibition "Not a Moment, Not a Place" opened today, Saturday, October 25. Featuring the works of Ralf Brueck, Kathrin Ganser, and Daria Lou Nakov, the show is a fascinating pushback against the endless stream of ephemeral visuals that dominate modern life.

Running until November 29, 2025, this exhibition, the Kunstverein's second, showcases artists who are redefining the very nature of photography. Their core philosophy: a photograph shouldn't just be an image; it should be an object.

From Pixel to Presence

The works on display are not simple prints. Each piece starts with a photographic "model"—a reference image that the artist then actively dismantles. Using both analogue and digital manipulation, montage, and overlaying, the artists rip these visuals from their original contexts and rebuild them into completely new forms. This process results in images that demand tactile and physical engagement, a deliberate slowdown for the viewer accustomed to swiping past content.

The international lineup of artists brings a high level of academic rigor and technical skill to this concept:

• Ralf Brueck, a master student from the prestigious Düsseldorf school of photography, continues his exploration of digital image creation, utilizing large-format pieces to critique the transformation of the medium in the digital era.

• Daria Lou Nakov, a French artist based in Berlin, makes the image's physical presence undeniable. New works like her 'Constructing Blocks 01' feature an analog silver gelatin print mounted directly onto mortar . Her intermedial practice deliberately creates sculptural, imagined worlds that interrogate the hyperreal nature of contemporary visual culture.

• Kathrin Ganser, a Berlin-based artist with a Ph.D. in Fine Art, contributes conceptual works that merge installation and media art. Her pieces challenge the way we perceive both "spatial image and pictorial space," forcing an intellectual re-examination of media aesthetics.

A Stand Against Ephemerality

In a world where images are consumed as quickly as they are generated, "Not a Moment, Not a Place" is an important cultural statement. It asks what it means for technical images to achieve "objecthood" when we typically view them as mere pulses of light on a screen.

By emphasizing material, scale, and surface, Brueck, Ganser, and Nakov are providing a necessary counterpoint to digital culture, urging viewers to stop, look, and reconsider the weight—both artistic and philosophical—that a truly transformed image can carry.

The exhibition is now open to the public at the Villa Heike Kunstverein, Freienwalder Str. 17.