April 17, 2007
unitednationsplaza: Five Short Texts on the Possibility of Creating an Economy of Equivalence
Liam Gillick
Five Short Texts on the Possibility of Creating an Economy of Equivalence: Liam Gillick :: May 7 – May 11, 2007 :: All sessions will start at 7:30 PM :: unitednationsplaza, Platz der Vereinten Nationen 14a, Berlin 10249 Germany :: T. +49 (0)30 700 89 0 90 :: Admission is free but space is limited, please register with Magdalena[at]unitednationsplaza.org
Five thirty minute lectures, followed by drinks in the bar at unitednationsplaza. The outline of a possible text. Five parts will be tested and developed, quickly.
Day 1: The day before closure of an experimental factory.
Day 2: Redundancy following the lure of infinite flexibility.
Day 3: Reoccupation, recuperation and aimless renovation.
Day 4: Reconfiguring the recent past.
Day 5: Relations of equivalence – three potential endings.
“The text looks again at the dynamic that exists within a group when one set of people thinks that there will ‘have to be change’ and ‘things won’t be able to continue this way’ and the other believes that change will only occur as a result of direct action.”
“We are interested in the cone shaped gap that you could argue is perceivable in the trajectory between modernity and modernism. Modernity leading to both Wal-Mart and memory sticks on one hand and modernism as a kind of ‘circling the drain’ complex of striated, layered forms of self-referentiality which at the same time attempts a way to envision creating continual and endless possibilities of critique in relation to modernity, modernism or any of its late and post iterations.”
“The question is whether they return to the abandoned factory to play out a new economy of equivalence or finally put it to rest and focus on other places that remain fixed and secure in earlier models of spectacular exchange masquerading as revelation or mere reflections of dominant models that currently leave all relationships intact.”
Liam Gillick is based in New York and London. Numerous solo exhibitions since 1989 include ‘Literally’, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2003; ‘Communes, bar and greenrooms’, The Powerplant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, 2003; ‘The Wood Way’, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 2002; ‘A short text on the possibility of creating an economy of equivalence’, Palais de Tokyo, 2005. Selected group exhibitions include ‘Singular Forms’, Guggenheim Museum, 2004; 50th Venice Biennale, 2003; ‘What If’, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2000 and documenta X, 1997. Numerous public projects and interventions include Ft. Lauderdale Airport in 2002; the new Home Office government building in London in 2005 and the Lufthansa Headquarters in Frankfurt in 2006. Since 1995 Liam Gillick has published a number of books that function in parallel to his artwork including Literally No Place (Book Works, London, 2002); Five or Six (Lukas & Sternberg, New York, 1999); Discussion Islan d/Big Conference Centre (Kunstverein Ludwigsburg, Ludwigsburg, and Orchard Gallery, Derry, 1997), Erasmus is Late (Book Works, London, 1995) and most recently PROXEMICS: SELECTED WRITINGS 1988–2006 (JRP|Ringier, Zurich, 2007). Liam Gillick has contributed to many art magazines and journals including Artforum, Parkett, Frieze, Art Monthly and a regular column for Metropolis M in Amsterdam and has taught at Columbia University, New York, since 1997.
Admission is free but space is limited, please register by email with
magdalena[at]unitednationsplaza.org
unitednationsplaza is exhibition as school. Structured as a seminar/residency program in the city of Berlin, it will involve collaboration with approximately 60 artists, writers, theorists and a wide range of audiences for a period of one year. In the tradition of Free Universities, most of its events will be open to all those interested to take part. unitednationsplaza is organized by Anton Vidokle in collaboration with Liam Gillick, Boris Groys, Martha Rosler, Walid Raad, Jalal Toufic, Nikolaus Hirsch, Natascha Sadr Haghighian and Tirdad Zolghadr.
Selected lectures at unitednationsplaza are now available to view online at http://www.unitednationsplaza.org/broadcast.html
Posted by jo at April 17, 2007 08:39 AM
