This past week, the United States government sued Arizona to block strict new immigration laws that will criminalize illegal transnational immigration in that state. In light of this, we chose to pull Krzysztof Wodiczko’s Guests From the DS Archives to be reconsidered in the context of our country’s continuing debate over immigration reform. Guests takes on new meaning when repositioned close to home. Krzysztof Wodiczko’s[…..]
While the act of mapping conveys authority – giving credence to that which it records – mapping cannot remain entirely static and must be revised to represent changes in power structures. In efforts to better understand or better represent the world, many contemporary artists eschew two-dimensional map-making in favor of addressing the ways in which traditional maps are transgressed by global complexities. Whose Map is[…..]
For this Sunday’s edition of From the DS Archives we hope to offer a little edification to accompany our readers’ 4th of July festivities. While we should certainly celebrate, it is also important to think about what it is to be American. Taking another look at this previously published feature on Brian Jungen’s Strange Comfort, allows us to do just that. For Strange Comfort, Jungen[…..]
Despite the plethora of images and information that inundates contemporary life, we can rarely be certain of the reliability or the persuasive spin defining what we encounter. Artist Johan Grimonprez questions the reality presented by news media and popular culture and sees that fear has become a global commodity. In an effort to make sense of the chaos and to offer his own critical analysis,[…..]
Mowing the lawn is synonymous with suburban existence. It is a task so habitual and perfunctory that it seems unlikely as artistic subject matter. However, it is precisely this everyday quality of lawn maintenance that enables Jeremy Wood to imbue it with significance by newly exploring it with GPS (Global Positioning Systems) technology. For Mowing the Lawn, currently at Tenderpixel in London, Jeremy Wood continues[…..]
The Serpentine Gallery in London presents Nairy Bagrhamian and Phyllida Barlow. The exhibition features new and recent work by two contemporary artists exhibited together for the first time. The Serpentine Gallery suggests Baghramian and Barlow represent ‘two positions on sculpture in the 21st century’. The pairing of the two artists offers new insight into their respective sculptural practices. Baghramian and Barlow’s work is displayed separately,[…..]
The Third Line in Dubai presents Islands – Abbas Akhavan’s first solo exhibition in the region. According to The Third Line, Akhavan’s site specific installation visualizes the connections between the art world/art market and the world’s economy. Akhavan positions this global economic theme within Dubai – mapping the city directly onto the gallery walls. In Islands, Akhavan paints a series of aerial maps that do[…..]
