Artists: Cory ARCANGEL & Hanne MUGAAS (US/NO), Judith FEGERL (A), Nicolas GROSPIERRE & Kobas LAKSA (P), Dariusz KOWALSKI (A), Paul LAFFOLEY (US), Mark LOMBARDI (US), Rachel OWENS (US), Florian & Michaël QUISTREBERT (FR), Gerold TAGWERKER (A), Tris VONNA-MICHELL (UK), Clemens VON WEDEMEYER (D), Flora WATZAL (A), Jordan WOLFSON (US)
May 27 – September 5, 2010
NineTeenEightyFour
Austrian Cultural Forum New York
ABOUT THE SHOW
This exhibition examines the evolution of imagery and language in what has been described as our panoptic era. While its roots are grounded in the concepts that arose from the 1948 novel by George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, which clearly reflected the historical background of totalitarianism, this show attempts to distance itself from this source by considering forms of surveillance and control today, where an all-powerful apparatus as described in Orwell’s work appears overly simplistic. The expansion of the scope of media, both through information technology innovations and connectivity, has shifted the frontier delineating what is public and private. Stereotypical notions, such as the ubiquitous eye of “Big Brother” and CCTV channels constantly recording the streetscape, seem less relevant as we enter a new age of alienation. It is now as if the objects and ideas we desire to control us more deeply than those that Nineteen Eighty-Four‘s protagonist Winston Smith feared controlled him. In addition, the acceptability of constant self-exposure entices us into what can be called the “participatory panopticon.” As a result, the artists represented in this exhibition, all of whom live and work in Europe and the United States, continue to question the effects of surveillance systems on the subject, but also the possible subversive usage by the subject, in a variety of media – including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, video and installation.
Curator's Statement
Director's Statement
Images
Entrance ACFNY
Judith Fegerl
NYSTAGM (2010)
Courtesy of the artist
Photo: David Plakke
Mark Lombardi
– Cabazon Study (1999)
Gaphite on paper
Courtesy of Donald Lombardi and Pierogi, Brooklyn
– COSCO Study (1999)
Graphite on paper
Courtesy of Donald Lombardi and Pierogi, Brooklyn
– Untitled (World Map) (2000)
Ink on paper
Collection of Joe Amrhein und Susan Swenson
– Luchaire, Allivane and the Euro Explosvies Cartel c. 1980-89 (2000)
Graphite on paper
Private Collection
– Peregrine International Associates of Dallas c. 1979-90 (2000)
Graphite on paper
Private Collection
Photo: David Plakke
Mark Lombardi
Untitled (World Map) (2000)
Ink on paper
Collection of Joe Amrhein und Susan Swenson
Photo: David Plakke
Paul Laffoley
Physically Alive Structured Environment:
The Bauharoque (2004)
Ink, collage and vinyl lettering on board
Courtesy of the artist and Kent Gallery, New York
Installation at the ACFNY
Photo: David Plakke
Paul Laffoley
Cosmogenesis to Christogenesis (2005)
Ink, collage and vinyl lettering on board
Courtesy of the artist and Kent Gallery, New York
Photo: David Plakke
Gerold Tagwerker
urban studies-Toronto#1 (2000)
urban studies-Chicago#3 (2001)
Black and white print on chipboard
Courtesy of Galerie Grita Insam, Vienna
Installation at the ACFNY
Photo: David Plakke
Jordan Wolfson
Untitled (2007)
Colour video with sound installation
3 min
Photo: Jordan Wolfson
Nicolas Grospierre & Kobas Laksa
Series from The Afterlife of Buildings (2008)
Courtesy of the artists and Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw
NICOLAS GROSPIERRE
Fryderyk Chopin International Airport, Terminal 2 / The Life of Buildings (2008)
2 Light boxes, lambda D-print on duratrans foil, aluminum
Courtesy of the artists and Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw
KOBAS LAKSA
AGROTERMINAL 2065 / The Afterlife of Buildings (2008)
2 Light boxes, lambda D-print on duratrans foil, aluminum
Courtesy of the artists
Photo: David Plakke
Rachel Owens
Privet (2010)
Glass bottle shards, Plexiglas, fluorescent lights
Courtesy of the artist and ZieherSmith Gallery
Installation at the ACFNY
Photo: David Plakke
Flora Watzal
Monitor (2005)
Video, loop
1:15 min
Courtesy of the artist
Installation at the ACFNY
Photo: David Plakke
Florian & Michaël Quistrebert
Congruent Triangles (2009)
Ink on paper
Collection of Gilles and Marie-Françoise Fuchs
Installation at the ACFNY
Photo: David Plakke
Tris Vonna-Michell
Monumental Detours / Insignificant Fixtures, Version II (2010)
Mixed media
Dimensions variable
19 min
Photo: David Plakke
Dariusz Kowalski
Optical Vacuum (2008)
Digital Video, loop
55:00 min
Courtesy of the artist
Photo: David Plakke
Cory Arcangel & Hanne Mugaas
Dickson 8” Humidity Recorder (2010)
Humidity recorder
Courtesy of the artists
Photo: David Plakke
Clemens von Wedemeyer
Die Probe (The Rehearsal) (2008)
HD video, stereo, loop
12:00 min
Courtesy of Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris
Installation at the ACFNY
Photo: David Plakke
Credits
Curators: Gerald MATT, Andreas STADLER
Exhibition Coordination: Elisabeth Haider
Exhibition Assistance: Natascha Boojar, Anne Marie Butler, Fiona Eltz, Judith Gruber, Anna Gruessinger, Alexandra Humer, Lisa-Maria Matzinger, Maria Simma
With generous support from Austrian Airlines; Botstiber Foundation
Supporting institutions of the Austrian Cultural Forum New York: AKG Acoustics GmbH, Austrian Airlines, Botstiber Foundation, RZB Finance, The Austrian Wines, Zumtobel Staff
Special thanks to: International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP)