Viewing articles tagged with 'Installation'

PhotoAccess, New South Wales Cres, Griffith ACT 2603, Australia

Now You See Me: Visualising the Surveillance State

Smile. Chances are you’re on camera. ‘Now You See Me: Visualising the Surveillance State’ provides an incisive exploration of the ubiquity of surveillance technologies; referencing strategies of observation and power from the 18th century and illustrating their intensified application in our modern world. Underpinning the exhibition, curated by Ashley Lumb and Kate Matthews, is a structuring dichotomy of visibility and invisibility, with the influence of the Panopticon – an architectural fixture designed by Jeremey Bentham in 1785 for use in prisons – looming large over the history of modern surveillance. Review by Daniel Pateman

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Turner Contemporary, Rendezvous, Margate CT9 1HG

Yuri Suzuki: The Welcome Chorus

On a rainy day in Margate outside the Turner Contemporary, twelve large, differently coloured horns play a song. Every two minutes, an AI machine within them generates a new tune comprised of voices that sound eerily like robotic children. This is Yuri Suzuki’s creation: ‘The Welcome Chorus’. Review by Zoe Ettinger

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Royal Hibernian Academy, Gallagher Gallery, 15 Ely Place, Dublin 2, Ireland

SUBSET: Micro Vs. Macro

While there are a number of strands to the on-going topic of the climate that require action, fundamentally at their core is a need for behavioural change. This topic forms the core of ‘Climate’ - a three-part project from SUBSET, which is an anonymous collective of artists known for their arresting street murals. Review by Aidan Kelly Murphy

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Schinkel Pavillon, Oberwallstraße 1 (über Französische Str. wegen Bauarbeiten, Unter den Linden, 10117 Berlin, Germany

Ground Zero: Christopher Kulendran Thomas in collaboration with Annika Kuhlmann

As virtual worlds become increasingly ubiquitous and algorithmic, we have never been more connected yet dislocated. Our networks are continually subject to change and, as globalisation accelerates, so are the intrinsic structures of identity, nation and power. The artist Christopher Kulendran Thomas investigates these shifting structures in relation to one another in ‘Ground Zero’, an exhibition which moves between fiction and documentary, personal history and simulation. Review by Eva Szwarc

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Humber Street Gallery, 64 Humber St, Hull HU1 1TU

Aniara Omann: Equanipolis

In ‘Equanipolis', Aniara Omann has created two distinct yet coherent spaces. The Glasgow-based artist uses sculpture, textiles and animatronics to–in the tradition of science fiction–imagine the forms which might populate a version of our future where, according to the gallery’s information, “the boundary between symbol and material is blurred”. Review by Lucy Holt

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Various locations, Coventry

The Twin: Coventry Biennial of Contemporary Art

The figure of the twin is one that resonates with the history of Coventry, one of the first cities to form an international partnership, first twinning with Volgograd 75 years ago. The Biennial draws on this theme, showing work from artists based in several of these twinned cities, alongside recent graduates from the area, and both local and international artists. Besides exploring international relations in the current political moment, themes of the Anthropocene, nature and technology, pairing artistic practice and academic research and acts of repetition emerge throughout the exhibitions. Review by Emily Hale

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New Art Exchange, 39-41 Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham NG7 6BE

John Akomfrah: Mimesis: African Soldier

The opening titles to John Akomfrah’s ‘Mimesis: African Soldier’ (2018) state that “six million colonial subjects fought and served in the Great War” and that three-hundred and fifty-thousand died in Europe. Akomfrah’s three-screen installation interweaves archival footage with new material that commemorates those conscripted into the First World War by colonial powers, to fight for a cause not their own. Review by Joshua Lockwood-Moran

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Spike Island, 133 Cumberland Road Bristol BS1 6UX

Imran Perretta: the destructors

In his new film ‘the destructors’, Imran Perretta uses narrative and visual storytelling to articulate his personal experiences with physical and structural violence. The result is a sensitive and poignant indictment of the British governmental policies, Austerity and the War on Terror, which have served to exacerbate the marginalisation and oppression of Muslim communities living in the UK. Review by Julia Schouten

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Belvedere 21, Arsenalstraße 1, 1030 Wien, Austria

Monica Bonvicini: I CANNOT HIDE MY ANGER

Placed in the pavilion designed by Karl Schwanzer, Monica Bonvicini takes over the impressive open-plan ground floor of the Belvedere 21. Bonvicini’s pieces redirect the viewer’s experience towards a performative space that welcomes the outside world, touching on questions of politics and society. Using institutional ways of conditioning her subject, the artist highlights the impact of societal structures. Through her work, Bonvicini reflects on the relationships between this space and the viewer. Review by Alexandra Gamrot

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EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Ahertajantie 5, 02100 Espoo, Finland

Tatsuo Miyajima: Sky of Time

For most of us, numbers allow us to quantify distances, volumes, time and more. The fact that the precise (or imprecise) use of these abstract entities also carries tangible consequences is also commonly known. Few, though, recognise their creative potential. There are only a handful of visual artists who use numbers in their work and Tatsuo Miyajima is one of those rare individuals. Review by John Gayer

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signs and symbols, 102 Forsyth Street, New York, NY 10002

Sharon Louden & Hrag Vartanian: Origins

Sharon Louden & Hrag Vartanian’s latest collaborative project, ‘Origins’, draws on years of conversations, exchanges and shared experiences. First iterated at the Marie Walsh Sharpe Studio Residency Program in 2018, the project remains a living thing. It changes in step with their longstanding friendship. Review by Rosanna van Mierlo

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Gropius Bau, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, 10963 Berlin

The Garden of Earthly Delights

Taking its point of departure and title from Hieronymus Bosch’s ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’ (1490-1510), the current exhibition at Gropius Bau brings together the wide-ranging work of twenty international artists. The state of the garden serves as a microcosmic starting point, from which expansive ideas and wider dialogues emerge about colonialism, systems of sharing, borders and structures of thought. With contributing artists including Yayoi Kusama, Pipilotti Rist, Hicham Berrada and more, the exhibition moves from the paradisiacal to the provocative, the reflective to the revolutionary, and shifts between global and individual lenses. Review by Eva Szwarc

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Republic of Korea Pavilion, Giardini, Venice, Italy

Venice Biennale 2019: History Has Failed Us, but No Matter

The title of the pavilion is ‘History Has Failed Us But No Matter’, curated by Hyunjim Kim, and nods to a struggle against the social and geopolitical framework that a person is born into, yet simultaneously, understanding yourself in relation to this framework. Kim has worked with three female artists; a first in the pavilion's history. Together the artists, Hwayeon Nam, siren eun young jung and Jane Jin Kaise, challenge ideas related to tradition and the canon of gender, mediating on the emancipatory potential of tradition (opposed to tradition being a barrier) for East Asian women. Review by Laura O’Leary

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The New Art Gallery Walsall, Gallery Square, Walsall WS2 8LG

Amalia Pica: Private & Confidential

Walking into ‘Private & Confidential’ the viewer is first overwhelmed by masses of laminated A4 sheets, covering every wall of the gallery. This is the first time that ‘Joy in Paperwork, The Archive’ (2016) has been exhibited in its entirety in the UK. Created whilst Amalia Pica, an Argentian artist based in London, was applying for UK citizenship in 2016, the archive consists of sheets sprawling with authoritarian stamps that become abstracted and subverted – no longer (de)legitimising paperwork but adorning it. Review by Emily Hale

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