Target Group Show considers the forensic analysis of human emotions and affects for various purposes as a constant condition of our present. The awareness that one's entire being, as well as all kinds of other characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, age, political stance, sexual orientation, and whatever else, is the permanent focus of targeted interest, causes a feeling of powerlessness to equanimity in the face of overwhelming technical possibilities for recording by an unknown outside.
Diametrically opposed to these processes is an objectification of individuals or groups with opposite goals: an intended exclusion and alienation.
The works shown in the exhibition can be seen in the context of such considerations, of a target group existence in a broader sense, in which every affect can be a usable information. This grotesque situation, in which the individual is viewed in a quasi-techno-empathic way that is purposeful yet objectified, is part of the internalized knowledge of the positions in this exhibition. In the process, humor often emerges as a means of awareness, self-empowerment, or demarcation.
— Hannes Schmidt
