Friendly Secrecy System - Janne Schimmel
What struck us at first when discovering the work of Janne Schimmel was his way of highlighting the beauty and sculptural aspect of hardware. When opening the box that is our computer, Janne re-curate its display without necessarily changing its function. By manipulating its aesthetic, Janne allows the hardware to become an interface between the physical world and the digital realm.
This interest for modding is at the heart of Janne’s Schimmel practice and a crucial movement within digital culture. His work is about hardware, obsolescence, memories, alternative storytelling. “His work aligns with the right-to-repair movement, the modding community, and the broader discourse against digital enclosures. It reclaims creative and technological agency from an industry that is made on built-in expiry.”
Friendly Secrecy System is an exhibition, curated with the artist, that showcases the modded consoles as sculptural vessels for games and videos created by guest artists. The invited artists come from a range of backgrounds, including media art and the homebrew community. Homebrew creators develop games outside of the game industry, outside of the norm, reinventing rules and mechanics for consoles considered obsolete. Together they are retroactively diversifying the library of these consoles and activating existing hardware instead of creating needs for new ones. Janne and Sickhouse collaborated with the invited artists to present their videos and games on the obsolete hardware embedded within his sculptures.
The exhibition welcomes the work of Janne together with projects from Paula Garcia Sans, B-Complex, Permacab, Vinzenz Sombray, Philip Ullman, astoryinpieces, Grenhunterr.
The exhibition will open on Friday 20-03 at 19:00 and run until Sunday 10-05. You can visit the exhibition on Friday’s and Saturday’s or on appointment with groups.
OPENING 20-03-2026
19:00 Walk-in
19:30 small interview of Janne Schimmel by Marie Janin to look into his practice and the development of the new piece “Friendly Secrecy System” created with Vinzenz Sombray (In the cinema)
20:00 free tour in the exhibition space
Janne will also host two workshops in April to share his practice and support makers in their quest for alternative processes.
Participants are invited on a hike with the artist and create pixel-art interpretations of the view, compressing real-world vastness into the Game Boy’s 160×144-pixel screen. All the artworks will be bundled onto a Game Boy cartridge at the end of the workshop. Each participant will receive their own cartridge containing the collection.
Participants are invited to imagine ways of re-activating Nintendo Wii-motes with contemporary software.
The exhibition will close together with a residency of Chloé Desmoiseaux, french artist and initiator of Fluid Space in Marseille. (more info coming soon)