In partnership with TNI editors Jesse Darling and Maryam Monalisa Gharavi, with JKNET, Paul Maheke, Raju Rage, and Takeshi Shiomitsu
SATURDAY 12TH DECEMBER 2015,
OPENS: 12.00- 20.00
The first installment of Ruptures is a contamination of the corporate in the form of an artist led conference in the Boardroom of the Association of British Insurers in the City of London. The conference, conceived in partnership with Jesse Darling, Maryam Monalisa Gharavi, JKNET, Paul Maheke, Raju Rage and Takeshi Shiomitsu, exploits the tensions and complexities between the artists’ site-specific works and the pristine, clinical boardroom setting. The event aims to bring together the London art world and those associated with the square mile, who will be provided with welcome refreshments on arrival and with a working lunch. The conference will close with VIP drinks, informal discussion and networking.
This one-day event will explore the implications of engaging with the boardroom as an art space and to build on these artists’ existing agonistic practices, which will produce a productive conflict in this context. JKNET is working through hierarchies and power relationships in the art world and beyond; these themes are further explored by Takeshi Shiomitsu, who examines at the core of power relations from micro-structures to metanarratives. Maryam Monalisa Gharavi's work unpacks the language and visual field of empire through her multi-channel installation video and live performance. While Paul Maheke is looking at the ways in which one can possibly defuse othering processes by embracing multiple selves, the works of Raju Rage and Jesse Darling both deal with necropolitics (the concept of some lives being more valued than others, based on race, geography, sexuality and gender) and the gender-industrial complex.
Ruptures exposes existing structures through an open platform in the context of the City - a concentrated microcosm of neoliberalism. The full programme will include a screening of Coco Fusco’s Operation Atropos (2006) and a skype appearance from Mike Bonanno of The Yes Men.
Ruptures takes place in an area of London associated with power. The exhibition is located close to the Guildhall (the city powerhouse since the 12th Century). What does it mean to explore the politics of this space? Thinking through Chantal Mouffe's concept of agonistic public spaces, this event attempts to channel the potential to perforate the system without slipping through the cracks.
Ruptures is an ongoing nomadic platform exploring the capacity for engagement and critique by artists in a particular context. Ruptures; Between the City in the Art World will be followed by a series of artist led workshops in February and March at the ICA to further develop conversations started in the boardroom, and look towards future events.
Ruptures; Between the City and the Art World is generously supported by the Arts Council England and will be streamed live by thisistomorrow on the 12th December and archived on their website: thisistomorrow.info.
For more information: [email protected]
The full programme will be available on: www.rupturesinplaces.com
To book FREE tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ruptures-between-the-city-and-the-art-world-tickets-19674357533