The complete work of The Brotherhood is an installation that originally consisted of six respective works. It had been developed over ten years when it was exhibited in its entirety for the first and only time in 1998, at the then-newly opened museum, NTT InterCommunication Center (ICC) in Tokyo. Additionally, it was the first major solo exhibition to open in the museum. The ICC took on the marvelous task of commissioning and shipping the installation from the United States to Japan and published an in-depth exhibition catalog, consisting of numerous scholarly insights into the exhibition and the importance of Woody Vasulka’s work, alongside interviews with the artist himself.
When organizing exhibitions and art-related events, one must ask themselves what relevance a certain piece of art might bring to the present. In 2015, when I first heard of The Brotherhood and Steina and Woody Vasulka described their longing to put the work together again to be exhibited in its entirety, I found it an important task for historical context. The content of this exhibition is therefore largely about preservation. To save what is historically important from destruction, so that history remains correct and that subsequent generations are allowed an exhaustive overview of the past. Let us keep in mind that The Brotherhood is one of the original interactive artworks of the world, therefore it remains understandable for it to garner as much attention as it did from a tech-giant such as NTT.
Since most of those who helped make The Brotherhood have now grown older or passed on, it remained clear that this would be our last chance to save it from its eternal demise. While 25 years is not a long time in historical terms, a quarter of a century in technological history in the 21st century remains an eternity. Each part of the installation is made from salvaged technical relics found at the US military surplus waste cast-off site, near the Los Alamos Military Research Center, many of the scraps already defunct when found. It can therefore be stated that antiquities are being saved, which means that getting each piece to function properly has been one of our biggest challenges during this process. Following the fine thread that permeates these works, as carefully and accurately as possible and being true to the original version. But even though we managed to stay mostly successful in that regard, there came a few particular instances where we had to let go, keeping Woody’s words in mind when doing so: “This is a work in progress.” And the installation has certainly progressed here in our new exhibition hall over the past year and a half.
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The Maiden, the magnificent installation, flew all the way here from Japan at the end of last year. Without her, the exhibition would not be the same. The ICC, which originally commissioned the work from Woody agreed very generously to loan the work permanently in order for the work to be preserved as a whole, as the artist had wished. On behalf of BERG Contemporary, Steina and The Vasulka Foundation I extend my greatest gratitude to them.
It is interesting to read these interviews that appeared in the aforementioned exhibition catalog in 1998. There, he also wonders if there will be a need, or even space for humanity in the future. Or if the future belongs to technology. Since then we’ve gone much further. We have recreated and redefined a large portion of reality, we have conquered the virtual worlds of technology.
Even though this production of the installation was originally intended to be about preservation and historical archiving it is safe to say that the message of the work is hugely relevant today. Unfortunately, humanity is faced with unfortunate developments in world affairs that could not have been foreseen in 2015 when this exhibition first came to our drawing table.
I would like to thank everyone who helped make this exhibition possible, especially Robert O’Kane, who oversaw the technical aspects of the installation process and solved numerous problems that came up along the way with his expertise. To conclude, I thank the Vasulka Foundation and especially Kristín Scheving for a great collaboration.
–Ingibjörg Jónsdóttir
Woody Vasulka: The Brotherhood
Nov 1, 2024 – Dec 20, 2025
BERG Contemporary
Reykjavík, Iceland
