Mika Rottenberg

Argentina-born, New York-based artist Mika Rottenberg is devoted to a rigorous practise that combines film, architectural installation, and sculpture to explore ideas of labour and the production of value in our contemporary hyper-capitalist world.  Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally.

Using traditions of both cinema and sculpture, she seeks out locations around the world where specific systems of production and commerce are in place, such as a pearl factory in China, and a Calexico border town. Through the editing process, and with footage from sets built in her studio, Rottenberg connects seemingly disparate places and things to create elaborate and subversive visual narratives. By weaving fact and fiction together, she highlights the inherent beauty and absurdity of our contemporary existence.

Mika Rottenberg visited CERN as part of the Guest Artist programme in 2018. Her first visit was in September 2018 followed by a second visit for filming in several locations (ATLAS, ISOLDE, Data Centre, AD) in November 2018. 

After her stay at the laboratory, Rottenberg launched her first New York solo exhibition 'Easypieces' premiere at the New Museum, New York in June 2019. The exhibition presents several of her recent video installations and kinetic sculptures and premieres a new video installation, Spaghetti Blockchain (2019) that explores ancient and new ideas about materialism and considers how humans both comprise and manipulate matter. This work was commissioned by Arts at CERN and generously supported by the Permanent Mission of U.S. in Geneva.