Embedded
an exhibition by Carolin Liebl & Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler

Embedded is a solo exhibition by artist duo Carolin Liebl & Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler.
The exhibition is currently on display within the Royce Hub Building at the University of Manchester.

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Introduction to Embedded

The Henry Royce Institute, alongside Sustainable Futures and Creative Manchester, is proud to present Embedded, a captivating solo show by German artist duo Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler.

Embedded brings together Cho. I’m breaking up with you. and Nature Soft as two interconnected works that explore the aesthetic, social and ecological dimensions of our material world. Through an innovative fusion of sculpture, robotics, scale, time and scientific process, Liebl and Schmid-Pfähler blur the boundaries between organic and artificial forms.

This thought-provoking art exhibition is now on view at the Royce Hub Building at the University of Manchester, offering those visiting the Hub a unique opportunity to engage with the intersection of art, science and sustainability.

By “embedding” the artworks within the Royce Hub Building, we hope to provoke reflection on the life cycles of materials, our complex relationship with synthetic matter, and perceptions and presumptions on their embeddedness in our lives.

Exploring Embedded

Embedded features two fascinating works of art: Cho. I’m breaking up with you. & Nature Soft

ABOUT CHO. I’M BREAKING UP WITH YOU.

In Cho. I’m breaking up with you., plastic plants slowly succumb to the forces of time and chemistry. The plants rest within a cylindrical glass vessel filled with caustic soda – within this habitat, the flowers’ bodies break down and disappear in the clear liquid over a period of several weeks.

“This chemical degradation process of a plastic called PLA, poly(lactic acid), reveals the invisible forces at play on a molecular level, challenging the promises of biodegradability and our ambivalent relationship with plastics.”

– Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler

ABOUT NATURE SOFT

Described as being rooted in the artists’ broader exploration of how plastic and technology intersect with the environment, Nature Soft investigates the materiality, aesthetics, and life cycle of compostable films.

“The image is a microscopic view of a foil sample measuring just 8 by 8 cm that has spent time in compost. The sample is made of biodegradable plastic, which is also used for the 3D-printed white ring. The handwritten markings indicate the type of compost, the duration of exposure, and the material of the foil.

“The sample acts as a time capsule, capturing and preserving a fragment of the natural cycle of decay. You can observe where the foil has not yet decomposed and how the plant material has bonded with the sample, becoming part of the object. In this way, connections between the natural and the technical material are traced.”

– Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler

Both pieces of artwork were created as part of the artist duo’s ArtNature/NatureArt Residency at Glenkeen Garden, Ireland, by the Crespo Foundation, Frankfurt am Main.

About the Artists

Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler create enigmatic plastic sculptures in collaboration with robots. Through these and other sculptural and installation-based works, the artist duo explores the interweaving of natural and artificial, human and non-human, material and ideology.

Liebl and Schmid-Pfähler have been working as an artist duo since 2012. Both completed their studies in Fine Arts and Sociology/Media Theory at the University of Art and Design, Offenbach in 2017 with distinction. In 2019, they founded the interdisciplinary art space Atelier Wäscherei in Offenbach am Main and have served as its artistic directors ever since.

Since 2020, they have been pursuing ongoing artistic research into the life cycle of plastics in dialog with researcher Professor Michael Shaver at the Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub at the University of Manchester.

The duo’s works have been exhibited at numerous international exhibitions and are represented in prominent collections, including ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany, WRO Art Center in Wrocław, Poland and Ennova Art Museum in Langfang, China. In 2022, their monograph hello world was published by Distanz Verlag, Berlin.

Art and science share a deep-rooted drive:

to probe the structures of reality and give form to the unseen.

Both engage with uncertainty, challenge what is taken for granted, and allow the imagination to reach beyond what can be measured. In the face of accelerating ecological change, this shared ground becomes a fertile space for new ways of thinking and sensing.

“These two artworks sit at an important interface between science, cultural institutions, and public perceptions and will hopefully serve as a springboard to engage and inspire.”

Prof. Michael P. Shaver, Polestar / Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Sustainable Automotive Polymers, and Director, Sustainable Futures

About Sustainable Futures

The exhibition is interwoven with the ambition of Sustainable Futures, one of the University of Manchester’s four research platforms. Sustainable Futures is built on the premise that realising sustainable futures requires new and integrative solutions to address the interacting global environmental challenges.

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About Creative Manchester

Creative Manchester is another of The University of Manchester’s four research platforms, alongside Digital Futures, Healthier Futures and, our partner in this project, Sustainable Futures. Creative Manchester convenes and supports interdisciplinary research across three key themes: Creative Industries and Createch; Creative Health; and Civic Futures, looking especially at how creative practice can contribute to shaping new research.

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