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I contributed a version of Generosity to Truth is Concrete: A Handbook for Artistic Strategies in Real Politics, a publication launched on 26th April 2014.

Truth is Concrete

Truth is ConcreteI contributed a text Generosity to Truth is Concrete, a publication launched on 26th April 2014.

Truth is Concrete was emblazoned over Bertolt Brecht’s desk while in exile in Denmark, a constant reminder in times of extreme social turbulence to remember political reality.

How can art play a role in social and political struggles? 

Can it be a tool to shape the world, rather than a mere reflection?

Following Steirischer Herbst festival’s twenty-four hour, seven-day marathon camp, Truth is Concrete: A Handbook for Artistic Strategies in Real Politics takes the possibility of concrete truth as a working hypothesis for both art and activism, and looks for direct action and concrete knowledge. In art practices that engage performatively in specific political and social situations, and activism that searches for intelligent, creative means of self-empowerment.

rejected

In 2010 I collaborated with 51% studios on an entry into a com­pe­ti­tion, A Room for London. The brief was to design a tem­po­rary 'hotel' room on the roof of the Queen Eliz­a­beth Hall at the South Bank. Although our entry was rejected, I enjoyed the process and especially their blackboard traces. See more of the drawings.

sovereignty

SovereigntyI went to London zoo to participate in an extension of an exhibition and conference. The exhibition at Gasworks was Hydrarchy: Power and Resistance at Sea, which explores contemporary conceptions of the sea as a contested cultural, political, legal and socio-economic territory.

The artists in Hydrarchy: Power and Resistance at Sea explore themes of colonialism and the slave trade, commerce, tourism and offshore finance, as well as maritime folk history, piracy and the tyrannical figure of the captain.

Saturday 18th September 2010

Unfortunately I missed the conference, although clearly it was exploring some of the theoretical terrain suggested by the exhibition. The sea has functioned as a historic space for the exercise of violent, tyrannical and world-transforming power; like capitalism, empire, slavery, etc. On the other hand the sea offers a possibility of resistance, where alternative, sometimes revolutionary social orders can be imagined and practiced; pirates, mutinies, offshore finance, etc.....

Backsourcing

"We have to discuss speculation, because the ultimate test is not the probable, but the possible. The possible implies creation, and obliges us to move beyond the probable."

Isabelle Stengers, Cosmopolitiques review

Capital is being screened as part of Backsourcing: a film program Video Lounge selected by Vincent Meessen, at the Chinese European Art Center (CEAC), Xiamen University, China, Dec 18-Jan 17, 2010.

In the world of enterprise, outsourcing delegates tasks that are no longer seen as profitable, or no longer core to a company's business, to an exterior contractor. Outsourcing enables a company to concentrate elsewhere, by diffusing risks, investments and costs to others.  The  recent economic collapse has necessitated ‘backsourcing’, when previously outsourced processes have had to be reappropriated.

Kindival

From 11am to 4pm on Saturday 25th April 2009, I'll be taking part in Kindival an event organised by student campaigner Tom Robbins. It's a series of talks, discussions, exhibitions  and performances that explores the theory and practice of kindness.

I'll screen, give-away and talk about Screen Tests. I'll suggest how restriction and scarcity in the artworld can be replaced by generosity and abundance - at least in the political economy of digital artefacts.

It will take place at Chelsea College of Art & Design.

 

 

Capital

1 May - 28 Sep 2001
Tate Modern and the Bank of England Museum; London

Capital was a series of encounters between two iconic institutions - the Tate and the Bank of England - and the economies of debt and gift that they animate.

Trust

First, trust seeped away in the debt markets. They seized, and the repercussions caused financial and 'real' economies to collapse. Trust is the most precious commodity in any market.

I'm reminded of a project I did in 2001 at Tate Modern and the Bank of England, Capital. Capital was a series of encounters between two iconic institutions and the economies they animate; the Tate and the Bank of England.

In Tate Modern and in the Bank of England Museum, at unspecified times during the day a visitor was approached by a gallery or museum official. "This is for you" accompanied the presentation of a beautifully packaged gift -a limited edition print.

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