 Philippe Parreno: El sueño de una cosa (The dream of a thing) Slash Fiction Liu Chuang, The Kingdoms of Elgaland-Vargaland, Philippe Parreno, Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, Janek Simon, Wang Wei, Hu Xiangqian "Slash Fiction" explores the critically reflexive ways in which artists utilise mainstream cultural and social structures. The selected artists operate and participate within major systems or languages such as party politics, advertising, colonisation and the World Wide Web. The results are often implicitly challenging to the ways those systems work. "Slash Fiction" will present works by six international artists. Janek Simon's use of information and materials gained only from the internet will demonstrate how easy it is to make almost anything given enough time, patience and bandwidth. Liu Chuang's conceptual works allow the viewer to perceive the extent and pervasiveness of large systems, through smaller events and acts. Philippe Parreno's "The dream of a thing" will be screened at local cinemas during the advertising break, using the visual language of advertisements to sell something unspecified. Hu Xiangqian's video "Flying Blue Flag" documents his bid for mayor in his local elections, energetically campaigning by promising commercial regeneration, pushing gently on religious tensions and simply offering to buy votes. Wang Wei will transform the architectural grammar of the exhibition space with his ambitious exhibition design. The Kingdoms of Elgaland-Vargaland will annex Gasworks as a territory for the duration of the exhibition (Non-citizens will require a visa to enter the Kingdoms). Slash fiction is a genre of fan fiction in which characters from popular culture are homoerotically re-cast according to the desires of its usually female authors. It can be considered a kind of "minor literature": a form of literature written by the minority in the language of the major group, capable of unsettling its coherence. "Slash Fiction" presents strategies that are similarly minoritarian actions not within linguistic but within social, cultural, digital and political structures. Hu Xiangqian, Wang Wei and Liu Chuang are participating in Gasworks International Residency Programme between January and March 2007 developing projects for the exhibition. This exhibition and residency project is the first of a three-year project supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. Curated by Mia Jankowicz and Nav Haq. Exhibition: 5 April - 27 May 2007 Gallery hours: Wed-Sun 12 - 6 pm or by appointment Gasworks Gallery 155 Vauxhall Street The Oval GB-London SE11 5RH Telephone +44 (0)20 7582 6848 Fax +44 (0)20 7582 0159 Email gallery@gasbag.org www.gasworks.org.uk |
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