STILLE POST

STILLE POST, 2025.05.23 – 2025.05.25

KARL PATRIC NÄSMAN & CHRISTOPH PUNZMANN – Invited by Veronika Abigail Beringer

NEW JÖRG, JÄGERSTRASSE 56, 1200 WIEN

Karl Patric Näsman (SE) presents a series of sculpture and paintings in dialogue with a sound performance during the opening night by the Vienna-based composer Christoph Punzmann (DE)

The works presented in Stille Post revolve around the concept of “the whispering game”, exploring how information is distorted or lost in the transmission of image and sound. By establishing specific frameworks and methods for collaboration, the project investigates issues of original and copy, perception, analogue versus digital, and translation as transformation.

Karl Patric Näsman’s work comprises the ongoing series Cattle Resting in a Landscape with Riverside Castle and Rainbow Beyond (2012–). The series explores themes of originality and reproduction through a process of commissioning sequential copies based on an 18th-century Dutch painting originally created by a follower of Aelbert Jacobsz Cuyp. The original painting was purchased on eBay and photographed by Näsman, who then sent the image to a reproduction company in China to have a copy made and shipped to him. Upon arrival, the copy was photographed and sent on to another company for further reproduction. This process has been repeated at each stage, resulting so far in ten reproductions from the same source. Copy after copy, through a process of ironic mise en abyme, the painting’s composition, color palette, and brushwork gradually transform. At the same time, traces of the painter’s hand become increasingly visible, revealing a more personal expression. Two new copies have been produced for this exhibition, one of which is the result of a manufacturing order.

Näsman also presents sculptural relief works from the Metamorphosis series, including 3D-printed sculptures produced in China. In a related process, Christoph Punzmann, commissioned by Näsman, used accessible technology such as photogrammetry via mobile apps and an iPhone to 3D-scan ancient relief sculptures from the Ephesos Museum in Vienna. Once the 3D-files were received by Näsman, they were sent to a 3D-printing company in China where the sculptures were fabricated using SLA technology. Upon receiving them, Näsman made silicone molds of all the 3D sculptures to produce additional series of copies of each relief. By combining new digital technologies with traditional molding and casting methods, the project investigates copying as an artistic strategy and material transformation.

A sound performance with a new composition by Punzmann will take place during the opening night, encapsulating the exhibition’s core theme. An old tape recorder and the South American instrument charango will serve as primary sound sources, and the performance will interact with the surrounding sculptural works and the exhibition space itself. The original sound material is re-recorded through cycles of analog and digital processing, evolving from alienation to creation.

This interplay seeks to explore the shared themes of analog and digital within both artists’ practices – loss of information, translation, transformation, distortion, and the value of cultural artifacts., Stille Post strives for a playful approach to reflection, drawing on the childhood game as a metaphor. What is lost along the way, and what is preserved? These accessible tools help us create new opportunities for new ways of understanding.

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Karl Patric Näsman (b. 1986, Örebro, Sweden) is an artist based in Stockholm.
He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Fine Arts from Konstfack –  University of Arts, Crafts and Design. His work has been exhibited in Stockholm and internationally in Shanghai, Tokyo, and Utrecht. In 2016 he was awarded the Fredrik Roos Grant by a jury consisting of representatives from the Moderna Museet. Näsman works with a simple visual language, where his artworks are both conceptually driven and materially tactile. He draws inspiration and freely borrows from art history, crafts, and architecture, challenging the concept of auto- nomous originality in art. By merging subtle references, he creates a rich diversity of expressions and values within his hybrid, artistic practice. Collaboration has been a crucial aspect of Näsman’s artistry over the years, with several self-initiated projects both in Sweden and internationally.
karlpatric.com


Christoph Punzmann (b. 1990, Pfarrkirchen, Germany) is a composer and sound artist based in Vienna. Christoph Punzmann is a composer, sound artist and multi-instrumentalist with roots in the transatlantic region, at the intersection between Peru and Germany. His musical education includes studies in musicology and art history in Regensburg and later electroacoustic and experimental composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. His artistic work is situated within the fields of contemporary, experimental, electronic, and electroacoustic music. Punzmann’s compositions range from multi-channel fixed-media pieces to electro-acoustic live performances in which he combines classical and traditional instruments such as the Chinese Guzheng and the South American Charango. He has frequently collaborated with other musicians and artists in unconventional settings before an audience, both locally and internationally. He is the founder and chairman of the association: Neuer Wiener Musikverein. Gesellschaft für Musik, Kultur und Performancekunst.
punzmann.com/

For a shorter, edited video of the the audio performance Stille Post by Christoph Punzmann during the opening night at NEW JÖRG: