Opposite Coast Automatic translate
с 23 Сентября
по 20 ОктябряЦентр Творческих Индустрий “Фабрика”
Переведеновский пер., д.18
Москва
The exhibition will present the works of twelve contemporary artists from the UK, Germany, Cyprus, Latvia, Mexico, Ukraine, France and Chechnya - video, photography, sculpture and installation, which are based on interest in new physical and symbolic forms of borders and analysis of their openness, the project “ Opposite Coast ”seeks to uncover the ambiguous nature of borders and shed light on their physical, political and aesthetic qualities.
.Opposite shore. John Smith, Flag Mountain, 2010
Opposite shore. Vansan Veil, Concrete waves, revolutionary souvenir, 2014.tif
Opposite shore. Remy Dupra, Buget, 2015
The exhibition center “The Opposite Coast”, organized by independent curators Kiveli Mavrokordopulu and Sasha Pevak, will open at the Factory Factory, as part of the parallel program of the 7th Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art. The exhibition will present the works of twelve contemporary artists from the UK, Germany, Cyprus, Latvia, Mexico, Ukraine, France and Chechnya - video, photography, sculpture and installation, which are based on interest in new physical and symbolic forms of borders. Instead of joyfully praising the “world without borders” and analyzing their openness, the Opposite Coast project seeks to uncover the ambiguous nature of borders and shed light on their physical, political and aesthetic qualities.
“A world without borders” is a slogan behind which lies a large question mark. Since the 1980s, European self-awareness has sought to end national boundaries. So, in 1985 Germany, France and the Benelux countries laid the foundations of the Schengen agreement, and until recently, strengthening the principles of freedom of movement of people and freedom of trade remained a priority of the Western world. But can we say that we really crossed the border when thousands of migrants are blocked on the approaches to Europe, the United States passes decrees to ban Muslims from entering their territory, and the struggle for zones of influence in the world provokes a review of long-established conventions? Why do the calls to re-erect the walls that we increasingly hear from politicians and the media around the world sound like promises and guarantees for future security and prosperity?
The term Imperialism of Movement, as proposed by Michael Hudson in Super Imperialism (1972), suggested that borders must be erased to allow free movement of capital. In this sense, of course, borders no longer exist, because cash flows flow freely from state to state. Decades later, borders primarily play the role of a filter of human flows. By acquiring new spectacular forms, they become “the screen onto which the anthropomorphic image of the Other is projected as the cause of national ills, beginning with the erosion of an ethnized national identity and ending with drug addiction, crime, and a decline in the real level of income” (Wendy Brown, Walled States, 2010). It is this spectacular and speculative nature of the borders that is the focus of most of the work of the Opposite Coast project. Exhibitors reflect on the physical forms of boundaries and their impact on humans, which takes on a real dimension through the observations and experience of artists or their loved ones.
So, in the video work Above Mexico Avenue (2013), Chantal Peñalosa, located on the same level as the American Border Patrol, literally looks at the US border from the Mexican city of Tecate, expressing symbolic resistance to government officials on the opposite side. Video of Hunting Scenes (2010) by Clement Kojitor and a series of photographs Camouflage (2016) by Jonas Fischer are devoted to the physical forms of borders in Austria and Switzerland, which today have become nothing more than the ruins of the past. A series of sculptures by Vansan Veil Concrete waves, a revolutionary souvenir (2014) borrows the shape of concrete walls that appeared in Egypt after the Arab spring. Installed in front of the administrative buildings to protect them in the event of future protests, they represent a new material form of the border that blocks power from the population. The film International Tourism (2014) Marie Vouagnier and the video Flag Hill (2010) by John Smith, as well as the de facto photo series (2015) Jonas Fisher, are based on the role of borders in building a national identity. The incessant redrawing of territories and the often arbitrary drawing of borders throughout history, leaving an indelible mark on fates and on the bodies of people, are in the focus of attention of Badi Dallul (Brinkmanship, 2017), Aslan Gaysumov (People of No Consequence, 2016) and Nikita Kadan )Everybody Wants to Live by the Sea, 2014). Video work On the road (2015) by Diana Tamane, as well as the sculpture by Buget (2015) of Remy Dupra, are reflections on the permeability of borders. While the film Joanna Neofitu Village Holiday (2017) captures the annual holiday during which residents of the divided Greek-Albanian border of the village illegally cross the border to come together again according to the old tradition, is a symbolic gesture of unity and re-appropriation of space by people, independent of decisions of politicians.
The Opposite Coast exhibition takes the name of a novel by French writer Julien Grac published in 1951. The novel is based on the story of a young aristocrat Aldo who went to serve as an observer at the border fortress of the state of Orsenn. Arriving at the duty station, the hero finds a fortress located on the coastline and protecting the borders of Orsenna from Fargestan. Despite the fact that the “war” between the two fictional states has been going on for three hundred years and the world has long been established by itself, the paranoid fear of newcomers from the opposite bank, as well as the desire to restore Orsenna to its former power, seem to lead to a new open conflict.
Venue: Center for Creative Industries "Factory", Hall "Olivier"
Perevedenovsky Lane, 18, pp. 1. 1st floor. Entrance number 1.
Dates of the exhibition: September 23 - October 20, 2017
Tue-Sun 12-00–20: 00 (on request at the checkpoint)
The Opposite Coast exhibition will run until October 20, 2017. As part of the ZOOM Public Program (September 24 - October 2), a series of discussions and film screenings will be held, the schedule of which will be published on the project website soon.