Manuel Cornelius

Title: things with feelings

Artists: Manuel Cornelius, Lea Gocht

Curator: Justus Linnekugel

Location: feinkunst. e.V.

Link to Location: https://www.feinkunst.org/

Text Author: Justus Linnekugel

Photographer: Manuel Cornelius, Lea Gocht

The exhibition "things with feelings" brings together two artistic positions that uncover the uncanny within the familiar. The hybrid fabric creatures by Lea Gocht (*1995) combine depictions of a body read as feminine with cat-like features. With wide grins and fixed, desolate eyes, they direct their gaze toward us. Gocht’s practice revolves around the multiple crises of the present and their effects on the individual.
Manuel Cornelius (*1991) translates digital product aesthetics into sculptures made of agar jelly. Freshly cast, this material is able to replicate the sleek surfaces of mass-produced objects. What initially appears to be synthetic plastic gradually reveals its organic nature as it begins to change over time: moisture evaporates, the sculptures dry out and eventually decompose.
Both positions work with unstable bodies and soft, yet resilient surfaces. While Gocht’s installations turn the gaze inward, Cornelius’s sculptures draw attention to processes of decay and transformation. Together they form a charged field of associations, suspended between fascination and discomfort.

things with feelings, 2026, exhibition view, feinkunst e.V., Hanover

Lea Gocht, Untitled, 2025–2026,
cardboard, adhesive tape, printed fabric, polyester stuffing, dried chickpeas, canned chickpeas, gold chain, packaging scraps

things with feelings, 2026, exhibition view, feinkunst e.V., Hanover

Manuel Cornelius, Boolean, 2020
dried agar jelly (after several weeks) , food dye, 3D-printed support structure
25 x 15 x 14 cm

Manuel Cornelius, Boolean, 2020
agar jelly (freshly cast) , food dye, 3D-printed support structure
25 x 15 x 14 cm

Manuel Cornelius, Boolean, 2020
dried agar jelly (after several weeks) , food dye, 3D-printed support structure
25 x 15 x 14 cm

things with feelings, 2026, exhibition view, feinkunst e.V., Hanover

Manuel Cornelius, Untitled, 2024
silicone, fiberglas, polyethylenterephthalat, tights
45 x 35 x 38 cm

Lea Gocht, Untitled, 2025–2026,
cardboard, adhesive tape, printed fabric, polyester stuffing, dried chickpeas, canned chickpeas, gold chain, packaging scraps

things with feelings, 2026, exhibition view, feinkunst e.V., Hanover

Lea Gocht, Untitled, 2025–2026,
cardboard, adhesive tape, printed fabric, polyester stuffing, dried chickpeas, canned chickpeas, gold chain, packaging scraps

Manuel Cornelius, Siphonophore, 2026
silicone, tights, fiberglas, polyethylenterephthalat
100 x 70 x 90 cm

things with feelings, 2026, exhibition view, feinkunst e.V., Hanover

Lea Gocht, Untitled, 2025–2026, cardboard, adhesive tape, printed fabric, polyester stuffing, dried chickpeas, canned chickpeas, gold chain, packaging scraps

things with feelings, 2026, exhibition view, feinkunst e.V., Hanover