Through a set of images taken by Oswaldo Ruiz between 2019 and 2020 in the Monterrey metropolitan area, we seek to investigate the production of landscapes of death. These landscapes often accompany the range of extractive economies that... more
Through a set of images taken by Oswaldo Ruiz between 2019 and 2020 in the Monterrey metropolitan area, we seek to investigate the production of landscapes of death. These landscapes often accompany the range of extractive economies that are dedicated to the exploitation of the stone materials in Monterrey's mountainsides, in a city which has historically been configured to become the industrial capital of Mexico. We propose the term necrolandscape to critically allude to the geological extractive processes that irreparably damage the natural landscape and its lifeforms, causing a death cycle in which nature and territory are reduced to low-cost goods at the service of the interests of big capital. These interests ensure that the same space from which the stone material was extracted is occupied with public and private infrastructure, as seen in the images below. This leads to a deprived landscape of exclusion.
Andalusian poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca explains the mysterious duende, animating force behind deep, raw flamenco song and dance. In this paper I share connections with the darkly spiritual duende that wend throughout the... more
Andalusian poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca explains the mysterious duende, animating force behind deep, raw flamenco song and dance. In this paper I share connections with the darkly spiritual duende that wend throughout the intellectual investigations of Julia Kristeva, particularly in her discussions of abjection and art.
The presentation revolves around two connected works: Come Cannibalize Us, Why Don’t You? and Apa Jika, The Mis-placed Comma. Both projects discuss practices of collecting and display in the context of colonial and post-colonial museums... more
The presentation revolves around two connected works: Come Cannibalize Us, Why Don’t You? and Apa Jika, The Mis-placed Comma. Both projects discuss practices of collecting and display in the context of colonial and post-colonial museums and explore possible points of re-entry for the fugitive or rogue object. Come Cannibalize Us, Why Don’t You? is an artistic response that re-visits the artifacts and writings from an exhibition shown at the NUS Museum. Apa Jika, The Mis-placed Comma focuses on the ‘forgotten’ figure of a Malayan weaver in the British Empire Exhibition in 1924. The work was commissioned for the inaugural launch of Singapore’s National Gallery, and is currently exhibited in The Diaspora Pavilion, Venice. Both artworks engage with the tropes and traps involved in representation, and the transnational entanglements of moving objects and people.
Unfolding over a period of three weeks is a special project by London based, Artist-in-Residence Erika Tan (Singapore). Focusing on the forgotten historical figure of Halimah the Malay weaver, Tan will revive her through a series of... more
Unfolding over a period of three weeks is a special project by London based, Artist-in-Residence Erika Tan (Singapore). Focusing on the forgotten historical figure of Halimah the Malay weaver, Tan will revive her through a series of footnotes and instigate a process of collective labour towards the understanding that history is an effort built by many. Halimah lived and worked with 19 other Malayans in the 1924 Empire Exhibition in London essentially engaging not only in the production of woven material but also symbolically reproducing Britain’s capital (its colonial subjects). During the day Halimah demonstrated her craft and sold products on one side of the Malayan Pavilion and at night lived behind the displays, cooking, eating and performing everyday life. This project seeks to liberate Halimah from her textual existence and re-insert her into a contemporary dialogue around nation, art and value – or place, labour, capital. The Lab will be used in a triad of layers – as an exhi...
What happens to symbols of cultural dominance when the world-order shifts? Set in Saltram House, an English country house (now National Trust property), the film takes place ‘some point in the not so distant future’, at a moment in time... more
What happens to symbols of cultural dominance when the world-order shifts? Set in Saltram House, an English country house (now National Trust property), the film takes place ‘some point in the not so distant future’, at a moment in time when China’s ascendance as a global power has given rise to an opportunity to re-visit history differently. Using a mixture of documentary and narrative film tropes, the cut and paste aesthetics of hip hop and chinoiserie; the history of Saltram House as we know it, under-goes a slippery transition in an attempt to remain relevant and shore-up its status as cultural capital. Sensing Obscurity I: The Manor House; English Literature; artefacts and the performativity of objects; contrapuntal readings; and looking inwards backwards. Duration: 28.31min Medium: 2-channel HDV projection, 4 track audio, looped Sensing Obscurity II: Chinese Chippendale Duration: 1.30min Medium: streamed video with bootleg DVD Sensing Obscurity III: After Chinoiserie Version I...
Tan was guest editor for 'And Now China?', a special print edition of the Ctrl+P journal, which critically responded to the celebratory rhetoric’s of ‘China Now’ and other celebratory markers of China's global ascent in 2008.... more
Tan was guest editor for 'And Now China?', a special print edition of the Ctrl+P journal, which critically responded to the celebratory rhetoric’s of ‘China Now’ and other celebratory markers of China's global ascent in 2008. As well as the introductory article 'Dialogical Skirmishes', Tan also interviewed Hans Ulrich Obrist
