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When the iconic painting of The Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo Da Vinci is mentioned, many people carry a clear image in their mind of this artwork.

We could perhaps say that within the darkness of our brain we carry an inner copy of the artwork that lights up by our inner vision. In order to see, we need light, but when remembering a painting with our eyes closed, the same part of our brain lights up (as shown on MRI scans). With the work New Originals, we take this idea one step further by transcribing the painting into a full body experience.

Usually when speaking of transcribing, one often means transcribing a musical composition, for example a piece of Bach from the cello to the piano. But we would like to talk about this work as an attempt to transcribe and transfer an image directly into the medium of the visitor’s body. The question we want to ask is: can an artwork be transcribed and archived within the memory of the visitor, to such an extent that the inner copy transforms itself into the actual original? the new original?

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New Originals was specifically conceived for Kunstmuseum Bonn. In a multi-sensory walk, extending over three exhibition spaces, Lundahl & Seitl invite you to reflect on the origin of pictures and the development of memories. Where do pictures originate and how do we remember them? What role do original and copy play?

New Originals, is a composite artwork/exhibition. In Bonn it was created in response to a series of works curated by the artists from the museums permanent collection. But could also be focusing on single artworks, as well as a temporary exhibitions or a series of works on loan. New Originals is aimed towards the visitors own perception, to induce new perspectives and at the same time evoke a sense of authority towards the own experience of art, giving new life towards traditional media, such as paintings, sculptures or prints.

It is important to remember that although it is a response to existing artworks, New Originals should be seen as an independent artwork of its own. It is also important to point out that the technology used, 3D sound and light in white-out goggles are designed to function as a tool to re-connect with our bodies and own thinking process instead of allowing technology to disconnect from our bodies and self.

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This exhibition is a complex installation: an interactional multi-sensory walk, with sound and light at its core. Stretching over several of Bonn Kunstmuseum´s large galleries the visitor is first led through the exhibition guided by text messages, sent to a provided cell phone, from an unknown sender called “the collector”. The exhibited works range, for example, from paintings by Max Ernst (a pioneer of virtual worlds) to a contemporary series of maps by Stephan Huber. After finding the entrance to a hidden corridor in the first gallery, the visitor enters stage two which does not involve any physical objects.

Guided by the voice of “the Collector”, as well as external stimuli in the form of synchronized light and three-dimensional sound, the visitors are encouraged to recollect previously viewed artworks and recreate them inside their minds.

In this virtual space of possibilities, historical objects float free of their bibliographic and museum anchors. The visitor alone is the witness judging what is real.

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Technique & Installation: 30 Headphones, 30 sightless goggles, 30 Smartphones: Synchronized three-dimensional sound and Light. Curated selection of original artworks from a permanent collection, temporal exhibition or borrowed works.

The work can be installed in different ways:

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1: Solo Exhibition. Lundahl & Seitl curate a selection of works from the permanent collection and/or external borrowed works. Physical copies are made of some of the artworks. Three-Dimensional interactive sound & voice instruction is scripted and recorded specifically for each iteration of the work. A writer is commissioned to write a novelette based on the exhibition sent out as an invitation to the exhibition.

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2: Individual artwork/s borrowed or owned can be exhibited as a New Original to be included in a permanent exhibition, group exhibition, biennale or festival.

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3: Any contemporary or historical work of art can be made into a New Original and acquired into a museum or a private collection.

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The Inception of New Originals at Kunstmuseum Bonn was an ambitious solo-exhibition that highlighted the connection between memory and image, and shed new light onto permanent collections. For Kunstmuseum Bonn it meant taking a new approach in its current exhibition practice. The exhibition did not only put to question the term of the "original" by creating an exciting and at times paradoxical dialog between selected works from the museum's collection and edited copies of them, but also by interpreting anew the medium of the exhibition and the visitors' role in it beyond defined museum standards.

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With kind support from Stiftung Kunst der Sparkasse in Bonn. In cooperation with The Swedish Arts Grants Committee.