Felix Kraus founded the fictitious artist group Swan Collective in 2007 to resist being pigeonholed as an artist. Besides painting, his creative endeavors through the collective include virtual and augmented reality experiences, films, and music. In 2024, Kraus published his debut novel LEXI.exe under the Swan Collective banner with Shift Books in Berlin. The novel provides a glimpse into the near future, exploring the impact of technological developments through a tragicomic love story.

In LEXI.exe, young artist Lexi van Dijk goes to extremes in her bold performances. After a negligent accident in which she seriously injures an influencer, she abandons her career and seeks solace in nature. Amidst pigs and chickens, her quest for redemption is disrupted by an unexpected encounter with artificial intelligence, turning her life upside down. Caught between two realities, she is forced to reevaluate her understanding of love, physicality, and the very foundations of her existence.

Through its works, Swan Collective continually challenges audiences to ponder the question: When does real life begin in the digital realm? Despite the proliferation of virtual experiences, the collective underscores that a creative body made of flesh and blood can offer the greatest resistance.

This event is presented in collaboration with Literaturhaus Berlin as part of the “Li-Be for the City” tour. While Literaturhaus Berlin undergoes renovations, it brings its programs to various districts of Berlin for 18 months.

Participants

Felix Kraus (*1986 in Munich) is the founder of Swan Collective. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (HfG), and the Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA) from 2007 to 2014. In 2012, Kraus was awarded a grant from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. The Swan Collective’s roster includes Richard Tator, Miles Macre, Coca Lloyd, and Nils Sanddorn. Works by the collective have been showcased in institutions such as Kunstmuseum Stuttgart (2023), Centre Pompidou in Paris (2022), Museum der Bildenden Künste Leipzig (2020), Goethe-Institut in Toronto (2019), and Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil in São Paulo (2018). As a member of Swan Collective, Kraus has participated in numerous screenings and exhibitions worldwide, including London, Berlin, Hamburg, Bolzano, Athens, and Tokyo. His films received first prize at the LOOP Festival in Barcelona (2018) and the Filmfest Ludwigsburg (2010).

Sonja Longolius (*1978 in Gießen) studied American Studies and Art History at the University of Hamburg and Freie Universität Berlin. In 2015, she completed her doctorate with a focus on the works of Paul Auster, Candice Breitz, Sophie Calle, and Jonathan Safran Foer. Longolius gained experience as an exhibition organizer at notable institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Stiftung Neue Synagoge Berlin, curating exhibitions on a range of topics, including video art. Longolius co-founded medienkunst e.V. in 2016 and has been serving as the director of Literaturhaus Berlin alongside Janika Gelinek since 2018.