April Widdup | Systema Philosphicum

Artist bio

April Widdup is an early-career multidisciplinary artist from Australia, currently based in Germany. A graduate of the Australian National University School of Art and Design (2022) with a Bachelor of Visual Arts majoring in glass, Widdup’s practice spans sculpture, installation, video, and audio. Navigating a tonal spectrum from playful to serious, Widdup creates works that invite audiences into a dialogue about the human condition. Themes of identity, mobility, memory, phenomenology, power and control emerge as recurring threads. By examining how we engage with the natural and built environments, and how societal constructs inform our understanding of life and death, Widdup’s practice illuminates the tension between individual agency and collective structures.

 Artist statement

In Systema Philosophicum, Widdup subverts the visual language of taxonomical graphs—functional diagrams traditionally rooted in fact and scientific classification. These charts, trusted tools for understanding and organising our world, become a playful and thought-provoking medium for addressing existential questions at the core of human experience: Are humans inherently violent? Is truth absolute? Is there an afterlife? Is time a construct?

Transforming these deeply complex and abstract inquiries into labyrinthine structures of binary “yes” or “no” pathways, Widdup mimics the rigidity of traditional taxonomies. This simplification highlights the absurdity of reducing such profound questions to fixed, dichotomous answers. By doing so, Systema Philosophicum challenges the societal norms that demand clarity, certainty, and digestible narratives in our understanding of self and existence.

Systema Philosophicum critiques the unquestioning trust we place in systems of presentation—systems we are taught to regard as neutral and authoritative. From false news to marketing and propaganda, information today is often manipulated to appear objective while concealing biases and agendas. Through this familiar and seemingly “truthful” format, Widdup invites viewers to question not only the existential queries posed but also the ways in which information is framed and presented in our daily lives.

The work delves into fundamental human concerns, exploring how moral codes, cultural biases, and societal judgments shape our actions and relationships. It interrogates the nature of humanity—our capacity for harm and peace—and examines the fragile constructs through which we navigate reality, from the concept of truth to our perception of time. These inquiries reflect the tensions between certainty and ambiguity, revealing how deeply our understanding of existence is influenced by subjective frameworks and shared beliefs

By adopting the aesthetic of taxonomical charts, Widdup blurs the line between the logical and the absurd, the factual and the philosophical. The work ultimately underscores the impossibility of simplifying existence into binary certainties. It is a reminder that the human experience, with all its contradictions, complexities, and uncertainties, cannot be reduced to neat, objective classifications.

Through its playful format, Systema Philosophicum invites reflection, questioning, and conversation—offering a space to reconsider the lenses through which we see our world and ourselves.

TAPIR | Kopenhagener Str. 31a | 10437 Berlin