'Bottom Up'

In 'Bottom Up', the Berlin-based artist Malte Bartsch explores themes of innovation, labor and the relationship between man and machine that are recurrent in his œuvre. The so-called ‘bottom-up approach’ describes the optimization of work processes from ‘bottom to top’. In this process, an increased and thus more profitable work performance is achieved by giving employees the right of co-determination with regard to certain projects and processes, thereby stimulating their motivation. This process culminates in an apparent freedom that is particularly popular in times of tech start-ups, which have now grown into giants, and is part of their innovation-driven success. In his exhibition ‘Bottom Up’, Malte Bartsch discusses what technological progress, competition and labor can stand for in an age of technology and globalization. The measurability of success and optimization is questioned, as well as the inability of humans to deal with their own failure.