Gulu's Berlin Solo Debut: NIHILISTIC SUPERSTAR at Migrant Bird Space - KALTBLUT Magazine

"As we traverse an era dominated by algorithms and driven by the impulse for efficiency, we increasingly sacrifice our ability to feel. In this "age of emotional poverty," highlighted by philosopher Byung-Chul Han, our emotional landscapes grow flatter, our pains diluted, and genuine intimacy replaced with a sterile digital façade. However, in Gulu's evocative imagery, the body emerges as a resilient space of resistance, pushing back against a world that demands we conform to neat, predictable narratives."

"His work lays bare the experiences of young individuals wrestling with feelings of loneliness, desire, and fractured intimacy amidst a backdrop of existential uncertainty. In Gulu's lens, we encounter bodies that exist in unfiltered reality: curled up, twisted, intoxicated, or leaning on one another, navigating the shadows and the harsh light alike. This excess of expression is not a sign of decay but rather an affirmation of life, the transgression that signifies our will to exist fully."

"Here, intimacy is depicted not as a steadfast promise but as a collection of fleeting connections, where loneliness morphs into a bubble-like existence, isolating us in our contemporary condition. The body transcends the role of an object; it becomes a site where contradictions arise and collide without resolution. The exhibition does more than pose a question; it probes at the very heart of our humanity in a post-human landscape. As artificial intelligence alters knowledge and algorithms fabricate desires, Gulu's images illuminate a flickering truth."

Gulu's Berlin solo debut NIHILISTIC SUPERSTAR runs January 30 to March 13, 2026 at Migrant Bird Space and presents photographs made between 2021 and 2023. The images capture young individuals wrestling with loneliness, desire, and fractured intimacy against a backdrop of existential uncertainty. The work situates these experiences within an era dominated by algorithms and efficiency, where emotional life flattens into a sterile digital façade. Bodies appear in unfiltered reality—curled, twisted, intoxicated, leaning on one another—asserting physicality as resistance. Intimacy is shown as fleeting connections, loneliness as isolating bubbles, while AI and algorithms reshape knowledge and desires.

Read at KALTBLUT Magazine