Artists

Steina

Press release

"Steina: Playback" is the first retrospective in Germany of Steina (b. 1940, Reykjavík, Iceland), a trailblazer of video and media art. A classically trained violinist, Steina turned to video in the late 1960s and approached the medium with musical sensitivity. In her practice, sound generates image or vice versa. Video becomes vibration, a current that translates elements into environments. Carrying rhythm and resonance into her electronic experiments, Steina treats the signal as a medium, transforming perception into something mutable and alive. Spanning from early documentary experiments to expansive multichannel installations, the exhibition traces Steina's lifelong pursuit of what she calls "machine vision": a playful, non-anthropocentric perspective that stretches perception beyond the human. Her works function as ongoing compositions where art and perception listen, adapt, and are continually reorchestrated.