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There’s a hidden gem at the heart of the Kunsthaus Zürich: a media art collection that is one of the largest in Switzerland. We present eleven works that embody the spirit of the new millennium, in a show that will appeal to art enthusiasts, video fans and tech nerds alike.

The thematic focus of the works chosen is on aspects of the digital transformation: Yves Netzhammer’s (b. 1970, Switzerland) & Bjørn Melhus’ (b. 1966, Germany) ‘Die umgekehrte Rüstung’ (The Reversed Armory, 2002) makes compelling use of the then-novel aesthetic of CGI. In Cao Fei’s (b. 1978, China) ‘Cosplayers’ (2004), young Chinese people in the booming and fast-growing city of Guangzhou dress up in costumes representing their manga and computer game heroes, overlaying virtual worlds and reality. In the large three-channel video installation ‘A Woman Under the Influence – to cut a long story short’ (2003) by Tatjana Marušić (b. 1971, Croatia/Switzerland), clips from a TV movie are digitally edited to the point of unrecognizability, and reassembled into an entirely new glitch aesthetic strongly reminiscent of digital image distortion. Another focus is on works that particularly convey the zeitgeist of the new millennium: ‘La Suisse existe’ (2000) by Christoph Büchel (b. 1966, Switzerland) presents Adolf Ogi’s speech marking the new millennium, which the artist has recorded in an act of performative piracy and thus transposed into the context of art. In his address, the President of the Confederation at the time calls on the Swiss population to be courageous and carry on. This blends seamlessly into ‘I love Switzerland’ (2002) by the Swiss video artist duo Com&Com, Marcus Gossolt (b. 1969) and Johannes M. Hedinger (b. 1971), which dramatizes and parodies Swiss national pride using simple digital video technology.

The other artists whose video works appear are Pipilotti Rist (b. 1962, CH), Rita McBride (b. 1960, USA), Diana Thater (b. 1962, USA), Susann Walder (1959–2015, CH), Gabriela Gerber / Lukas Bardill (b. 1970 / b. 1968, Switzerland) and Zilla Leutenegger (b. 1968, Switzerland). While preparing the exhibition, Luca Rey and Éléonore Bernard had the opportunity to consult many of the artists on how to display their works correctly and preserve them in the best possible way. Thanks to its variety of presentation formats, the exhibition will appeal to both art enthusiasts and technology fans.