Anina Brisolla Transforms Digitality And Materiality Into Provocative Contemporary Art

Exploring Power, Privatization, And Space Through Multi-Media Creations

Anina Brisolla’s interview delves into her exploration of digitality, environmental politics, privatization, and the fragility of human progress through multi-layered artworks, 3D pen sculptures, innovative installations, and critical artistic inquiry.

A  nina Brisolla stands as a pioneering force in contemporary visual art, where her creations resonate with profound conceptual depth and aesthetic ingenuity. A Berlin and Oderbruch-based artist, Brisolla seamlessly bridges the realms of digital and physical, challenging the boundaries of conventional media with an unparalleled sophistication. Her work is a conversation—between what is tangible and virtual, between the structures of power and the fragility of existence, and notably between humanity’s relentless pursuit of progress and the enduring consequences it leaves behind. Through installations, sculptures, and her signature 3D pen drawings, Brisolla crafts a narrative that is both intellectually provocative and emotionally compelling.

Her recent series, such as “fabrics,” “value systems,” and “grid drawings,” stand as testaments to her mastery of materiality and concept. These works intricately weave together ideas of digital revolution and material fragility, exploring the contradictions of a world caught between digital abstraction and tangible reality. With their haunting fragility and precision, Brisolla’s constructions evoke a stark yet poetic commentary on the instability of societal structures in an age dominated by rapid digitization.

Anina Brisolla’s visionary artistry redefines boundaries, blending intellect and emotion to provoke deep reflection on contemporary societal and environmental challenges.

Through her exploration of topics ranging from privatization to environmental politics, Anina Brisolla doesn’t just create art—she provokes thought and challenges perception. The innovative layering of ideas in her “prospect” series, with its interrogation of space exploration and the human propensity to lay claim, underscores her brilliance in tackling global and existential themes. From her intricate bead installation “8 Milliarden,” a visceral representation of the world’s population, to her reflections on space mining as a metaphor for humanity’s endless hunger for resources, Brisolla’s work is as expansive as it is detailed, transcending the confines of medium and expectation.

Her ability to question, reflect, and manifest such intricate ideas into visual form places Anina Brisolla at the forefront of critical artistic discourse. In this issue, WOWwART proudly spotlights this extraordinary artist, offering readers an intimate glimpse into her creative process, her vision, and her compelling call for awareness in a rapidly transforming world.

In your series ‘Prospect’, you explore the concept of space as a new frontier for privatization. What inspired you to address this theme through NASA and ESA imagery?

I was looking at one image that was all over the news back then, entitled ‚New earth-like planet found‘.
The image made me wonder what this would imply. So I printed it and started drawing directly onto the print. The image had a dark romanticism about it, almost like some sort of heavy-metal cover-artwork. That triggered me. As I continued the ‚prospect‘ serie, I started to work with a program similar to Google Earth, but in space. This allowed me to explore space and ‚take pictures‘ of sceneries stars, exoplanets,
etc.

How do you view the intersection between environmental politics and space exploration in your work, particularly with the concept of space enclosures?
I consider fencing off an area to be an ancient cultural technique. In this we visibly separated ourselves from nature and in doing so, we have placed ourselves above nature.

What will we humans do after having destroyed this world? We fly to another planet and colonize it. And what is the first thing we do there?

We stake out land, put up fences and take possession. This is already happening now. Not literally like in my drawings, but the race to be the first has long since begun. And even though there are regulations and acts like for example the ‘Outer Space Treaty’ from 1967, the economic interests are a strong engine to fuel this „New Space Economy“ Space is already full of junk. Wherever men will go, a line of left behinds shows our appearance.

Could you describe the specific process you follow to achieve the final layered look in your pieces, especially when working with large-scale images that you draw over?

For the ‘prospect’ series, I worked from real models. This means that the fences and walls I drew there all have a real place in the world. My work is often preceded by intensive research and I like to use images that are anchored in the collective consciousness.
For ‘prospect’ for example I collected a lot of material of border fences and walls. I found it interesting to pursue questions of materiality onto another planet, so I decided for a way of drawing that is both realistic and painterly somehow and you get an idea of what the thing is made of. As the imagery often has some ‘kitschy’ aspect to it, this creates an interesting tension.

Shifting between different media, from video to installation, seems to be a key aspect of your work. What influences your decision to choose one medium over another for specific projects?

A new project usually arises from direct involvement with a specific topic, reading or watching a
documentary for example. I have always been interested in how digitalization affects society. And at the same time, the transfer between digital and analogue media is an idea that has characterized my work for a long time. For me, it therefore seems just logical to include the choice of working material in the conceptual process with every new project.
Sometimes I work with a kind of ‘reverse engineering’ and that also determines the final result.
Some of my work of recent years deals with the process of 3D printing in this analytical way. I replaced the mechanics of the print head, which is calculated and controlled by the computer, with the movement of my hand along predetermined lines of movement.

Could you explain the significance of the 40,000-bead installation ‘8 Milliarden’ in your SMAC exhibition and how it complements the other works?

‘8 Milliarden’ – 8 billion – corresponds to the current population of the world. In my exhibition called ‘space mining’ at SMAC I created work along three timelines: past – present – future.
‘8 Milliarden’ is thus to be seen as the present. I wanted to see the world’s population manifested and at the same time know for myself how big this pile would be. There is an addition to the title: M 1:200.000. This is the scale in which the work is carried out. So one pearl corresponds to the population of a middle sized city such as Kassel here in Germany or i.e. Norwich in the UK.
‘space mining’ denotes the concept of mining raw materials in space. Optimistic scientists predict that in twenty years‘ time, it will likely be possible to apply those techniques. Globalization has mapped the world anew and revealed the finitude of raw materials. The quest for resources has always inspired the human spirit – and attempts to pursue them have had a lasting impact on human history. This is where I started my artistic reflection on the topic, questioning the motives of the actors involved. I conceived this model of the present in order to use it as a starting point for these considerations.