This month we are posing questions about discourse and whether art can change or influence the knowledge systems we are part of, influence and are influenced by.
If we consider society from a structuralist perspective, then are we too bound intrinsically to the constructs to break free?
Yet even Michel Foucault whose philosophy of society and how it is structured, offered the suggestion that discontinuity or rebellion can alter the discourse. "At certain moments, and in certain orders of knowledge , there are these sudden take-offs, these hastenings" (Foucault interviewed by Rainbow, 1984).
Can art be the hastening? This exhibition explores the subject and as ever the responses are varied and challenging.
Artist: Claire Ong
Instagram: @claire_o_studio
“A medieval theological argument”. MEDIUM: printed & laser cut textile collage
DESCRIPTION: ECHR: The arguments used to sell the concept of loss of our human rights as brought to us by a range of irrational politicians. The words enter the news cycle and seep into society as ink soaks fabric.
Artist: Jay Rechsteiner
Instagram : @jayrechsteiner
Bad Painting 359: Police detaining asylum seekers to deport them to Rwanda.
MEDIUM: oil on canvas
DESCRIPTION: UK police raiding and arresting asylum seekers in order to send them to Rwanda. My Bad Paintings depict real horror stories. I do not think that art can actually change the world, art can only show you the world.
Artist: Kirsty Bunce
Instagram: @kirstybunce.art
Not Your Bird. MEDIUM: Digital
DESCRIPTION: ‘Not Your Bird’ is an illustrative comment, challenging the different less than endearing terms for women. Among other terms, being referred to as a ‘bird’ or the more possessive comment of being someone's ‘bird’ devalues the woman, comparing them to something other than human.
Artist: Svetlana Kornilova
Instagram: @svetakorn
Looking at the world through my ocean. MEDIUM: oil, canvas, 50x80
DESCRIPTION: In the world of terrible news that hits us every day, the news that can get anywhere, so stressful I can not handle and don't see a place to hide I invented "inner emigration". World of art is a safe place where I make rules and create news. Like Rapunzel I sit in my ivory tower hidden from the outside world with the ocean of art.
Artist: Gino Parisi
Instagram: @artbygp6
“ACIM number 1” MEDIUM: Mixed media
DESCRIPTION: This is a painting of series based on book called A Course in Miracles (ACIM). This Spiritual book is a year course that is designed to free the mind from the indoctrinations of western society. The mind, once changed through the practices in the book is set free to be authentic
Artist: Ckrisart
Instagram: @ckrisart
“The paths of the time”. MEDIUM: Digital Art
DESCRIPTION: This piece was created to explore the complexity of time and its impact on our lives. In a world where time seems to pass more and more quickly, it is essential to step back and reflect on its inestimable value. By capturing the different facets of time through an immersive visual experience, we aspire to provoke deep reflection on how we use and perceive time in our modern society.
Artist: Lou Liska
Instagram: @loulis_artist
“Diary of a non-binarian + munch”. MEDIUM: Acrylic On Canvas, on stretcher frame
DESCRIPTION: Diary entries from the diary of a non-binary personality. The entries reflect different moments and experiences of non-binary existence. Dysphoric, anxious and depressed or sad and irritated moods often colour these experiences. The public debate on non-binarity is still often characterised by bias, a lack of understanding and ignorance. For example, anyone who does not behave as a woman or man in a comprehensible and expected way immediately feels the consequences. However, gender identity is not dependent on or readable from outward appearances, preferences or behavioural patterns. The poses of the characters are inspired by epic poses from art history.
Artist: Natalia Monakhova
Instagram : @nataliamonakhova.art
“The Weight of Art 7.2 cm” MEDIUM: Mixed Media
DESCRIPTION: From the series "The Weight of Art". I don't believe that art can make the world better because it is a heavily regulated system with rules, ranks, hierarchy, competition, and judgment. Art is illusive; it just seems to set you free. When I was young, I used to think of art as the Abbaye de Thélème, where you could do whatever you want. I was wrong. But I still remain an artist for reasons I can’t really explain.
Artist: Bill Aitchison
Instagram: @infinite_biscuit
“Investment Ritual”. MEDIUM: Video
DESCRIPTION: Investment Ritual is one of series of eight videos about land reclamation, made for an exhibition in the former Portuguese colony of Macau. Aitchison stands on reclaimed land on the southern island of Macau with a view over the sea to the northern part of the territory where super casinos, also built on reclaimed land, line the waterfront. Dressed in a gold suit and banging a gong, he chants the names of western brands in a ritualistic manner, then concludes by scattering coins on the ground. It’s an ironic ritual that draws attention to both the desire for unabated consumerism and, at the same time, dwindling foreign investment in China. It also points both forwards and backwards; forward to a future of unlimited consumption and backwards to a time of shamanism and belief in supernatural forces. Bringing together all of these tensions in China’s equivalent of Las Vegas, the ritual mirrors the unrealistic yet eternal optimism of the gambler. It is a ritual to make more land rise from the sea through the power of consumption in the face of a sea that is itself rising in no small part due to the consequences of consumerism. Within the context of China, this work reframes the discourse of expansion, wealth and consumption by turning these into an ironic mantra. It does so in a serious manner, however, appealing to the belief in the supernatural, an aspect of identity that has made a resurgence for nationalistic reasons. This is also reframed, however, by the fact that it is being performed by a foreigner and not by a Chinese shaman. The desire here is to cross discourses with the effect of highlighting their artifice and offering the possibility of re-evaluation.
Artist: River Smith
Instagram: @toasted.fishes
“it is all my fault”. MEDIUM: Fabric and paint appliqued on fabric, coat rack, paint and posca
DESCRIPTION: Why do you always make such a mess? why do you always make everything so difficult? it is your fault though. it is still your fault because you are the child and i am the adult. i am not wrong, you are wrong. the messages we teach our children in early life become the core beliefs they hold about themselves. if you teach them that they weren't enough they will continue to believe that. even if you didn't mean to.
Artist: Carrie Ravenscroft
Instagram : @ravenscroftcarrie
“The pursuit of understanding”. MEDIUM: acrylic, watercolour, puffy pens, mirror pieces
DESCRIPTION: My research into neurodivergence, juxtaposed with my lived experience, creates a visual narrative for others to see and feel. It aims to contribute a previously unheard piece to the global conversation about fitting into society's 'normal' functioning paradigm. This is a dialogue about the world as experienced by those who grapple with conventional societal constructs.
Artist: Iza Nez
Instagram: @iza.nez
“Instructions to an artist how to waste time effectively”. MEDIUM: Embroidery
DESCRIPTION: In a productivity and achievement-orientated culture, we never have enough time and we try to avoid ‘wasting‘ any. But what is wasted time when even leisure time can be framed as a way to improve productivity? The work is a set of instructions how an artist may waste time ‘effectively’
Artist: Kate Fallon-Cousins
Instagram: @katef_c
“Untitled”. MEDIUM: Collage
DESCRIPTION: When i do a collage I create a character. This year prompted by terrible wars happening around the world, i have dedicated all my work to Peace. This character holds a placard protesting for peace. I have printed this image on postcards and have distributed them around my hometown. I have been inspired and in turn i would love to inspire others. Using my voice and my art to spread a message of peace. Even a small stone thrown into water makes ripples. Art brings a discourse and hopefully it is a positive one. The message transcends politics and spirituality and speaks out for humanity. How do we achieve peace and what can we do as individuals to protect our brothers and sisters? A whisper in the wind is heard by someone.
Artist: Maja Spasova
Instagram : @art.majaspasova
“UN VOYAGE ROMANTIQUE SUR LA SEINE, 1996”. MEDIUM: Urban performance
Rebellion and Take-Off - In my work I let the place, the moment, the unpredictable chance speak and reveal their hidden core. I believe the ideas are born by a kind of conversation, intensive listening and talking to the place, to its countless segments like geographical position, historical and cultural heritage, people. A dialogue with a place is nurtured by intuition and imagination, by using all invisible antennas humans are equipped with. The rebellion, the take-off is an art outside the white cube, art in the open urban sphere and in a continuous interaction with the environment, art unrestricted and unhinged, art as an organic entity of life itself. Maja Spasova, 2024.
DESCRIPTION
Light projections of lonely-heart ads in different languages and from a slowly moving Bateaux-Mouches, duration 2 hours. From Pont de Tolbiac till Pont d;Eiffel, Paris. Support by Cetntre Culturel Suedois.