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Colette Sadler: Temporary Store. 16.02.2019. Sophiensaele, Berlin.

We arrive to something like an airport boutique: a strangely and adamantly lit space furnished with just a few objects lying in wait under twirling logos. Three cyborgs streamlined for commerce parade human forms in „perfect“ design; Leah Marojevic, in her serenely smooth movement, is capable, enchanting, and uncanny, but the symmetrical blue eyes, a bleached pixie crop, and a tall Nordic build in slick attire set front and centre do little to challenge our popular conceptions of what AI could and should look like. Missed opportunity. STYX (the river the deceased must cross), CHARON (the ferryman of Hades) and OBOL (the coin used to pay Charon for the journey across the Styx) splash largely on a screen behind: are our current fixations and integration with our devices our own obol across the waters which separate human from post-human? Maybe, but the second half of the work – a switching of props and costumes – feels heavy and uninspired, and I miss the playful metamorphoses and absurd humour which makes much of Sadler’s work so powerful.