ENACTING POPULISM IN ITS MEDIÆSCAPE
Curated by Matteo Lucchetti
February 18 – April 22, 2012

Press conference: Thursday February 16 at 11 am at Kadist Art Foundation
Opening reception: Friday, February 17 from 6 to 9 pm.

Alterazioni Video, Heman Chong, Luigi Coppola, Danilo Correale, Foundland, Nicoline van Harskamp, Steve Lambert, Oliver Ressler, Anna Scalfi Eghenter, Société Réaliste, Jonas Staal, Superflex.

with a screening program curated by le peuple qui manque
a public conversation with Ernesto Laclau (Thursday February 9, 7-9 pm)

Kadist Art Foundation is pleased to present Enacting Populism in its mediaescape, an exhibition curated by Matteo Lucchetti, following his residency at the Foundation.

Enacting Populism is an on-going project on the possible relationships between art practices and the populist mediascape that connotes the current political zeitgeist of Europe. At Kadist Art Foundation this project will develop into an exhibition that will take place during the last two months of the presidential elections campaign in France. The space here is interpreted as a sui generis political bureau, immersing the exhibition in an ambivalent environment where the works can be seen as elements belonging to a political party office where a campaign is being prepared.

The show is focusing on the European populism that has heavily influenced the public imagery on politics for the last twenty years. Its leaders and agitators understood at an early stage the shift that occurred both in portraying the figure of the politician and in the role of the political discourse in the mediascape. In fact, when political ideologies ceased to give shape to the political agendas, with the end of the Cold War, the Western parties started to progressively mirror this ending with the flattening of their positions in the public debate, starting to respond only to a general capitalism discourse about a global market that needed to find its way. From that point the political action softened the natural antagonism of democracy, thus creating a lack of opposite and distinct political projects. This situation left space for a popular frustration to arise and consequently demagogues articulated it. Therefore those who understood how the space of politics worked slowly moved from being representative to openly playing with its representation in the media.

Ernesto Laclau was one of the first to acknowledge to populism a dimension inherent to any democratic regime, looking at it through a historical perspective and not just as a right wing party phenomenon. As Laclau states,“democratic politics requires the construction of a ‘people’ on the basis of one or more empty signifiers as well as an antagonism between ‘us’ and ‘them’ “ .

In order to create alternative, cheap and fictional feelings of belonging, or rather in order to ‘construct’ that empty signifier that is ‘the people’, the visual strategies that take place on a daily basis in the media might not only be seen as completely distorted productions of our times. Instead, they can also be considered as materials that can be easily deconstructed, so as to offer a clearer vision on what democracy looks like today. The process of enacting populism, to make the aesthetic strategies embedded in the creation of a visible consensus, comes together with interferences put at play with the mediascape. Here, the artistic projects find new potentialities to impact the contemporary imagery on politics as seen in the works produced for the show. Moreover, developing a historical perspective on the idea we have on populism, generates tools through which an awareness is created.

Read an extended version of this text here.

It’s Time to Fight
22in x 14in
Letterpress on card

Beautifully printed by James Lang at Horwinski Printing using lead and wood type on a letterpress machine built in 1885 the size of a mid-size car.

The text in this poster comes from a piece I did on the Waffle Shop Billboard in the Spring of 2011.

How to Order a Print

You, personally, determine the price of the print.

I made a large print run because I want you to have one. The idea of creating a traditional art object “limited edition” and manufactured scarcity is contradictory to the ideals I’m working towards. So I decided with this piece I can make an “unlimited edition.” That means, as long as I am able, these prints will be available to anyone who would like one.

For me to fix the cost of a print about Utopia is absurd. I ask you to pay what you think it’s worth to you, given the resources you have. I want you to have this, I want you to feel the price you paid is fair, and I trust you to determine that. This way the prints can fit in everyone’s budget.

Here’s some information to help you determine your price. The cost of producing the prints, shipping the edition to me, and packing and shipping a print to you in the United States is roughly $14.20 per print. My labor is difficult to quantify (how long did it take me to come up with this idea, to work with the printer, to write these words, to shoot the photographs? How can this support future work? How can this practice sustain itself? It goes on and on…) so I’m leaving that part up to you. $14.20 per print only covers the raw costs, and I make nothing.

Again, I want you to have this print and for you to pay what you think it’s worth, given the resources you have.

Additional Notes

Shipping to Europe: Raw costs for shipping to Europe is about $49.20. For other countries, just send me an email.

Multiple Prints: If you want to buy 2 prints and are in the US, the raw cost for me is $23.40, then you add whatever you think is fair to that (see above). They can be two different prints. Just add a note to your paypal purchase. For more than 2, get in touch.

Other Available Letterpress prints

I’ll be speaking at Crashed Economy: Debugging and Rebooting. About the talk/panel:

To face the current economical crisis means to question dualistic perspectives such as capitalism vs anti-capitalism as well as to imagine a sustainable network of values in which accumulation of growth and precarity are substituted by a grassroots ecology of sharing built on an increasing capacity for sociability. This event presents two sets of projects which question the notion of capitalism through direct intervention and collective reflections proposing an exodus from proprietary money and trade regulation through distributed commons and practices of social networking.

In Part 1: What Capitalism? Steve Lambert (us) and Daniel Garcia Andujar (es) show how one can critique the concept of capitalism in times of crisis through direct interventions and ludic practices. Elanor Colleoni (it/dk) will act as respondent.

Victoria is in the reSource program.

Saturday, January 28 – Sunday March 11, 2012

Beacon Arts presents Capital Offense: The End(s) of Capitalism, curated by Jennifer Gradecki and Renée Fox, which presents a selection of artwork and writing chosen for its clarity in questioning, exposing and reflecting upon various aspects of the current global economic crisis and neoliberal global capitalism. The exhibition features writing, video, sculpture, participatory and interactive installation, performance, painting, photography, and posters by Critical Art Ensemble, Gregory Sholette, Holly Crawford, Andrea Fraser, Noam Chomsky, Martha Rosler, Team Colors Collective, Occuprint, Derrick Jensen, Steve Lambert, Nicolas Lampert, Bask, Alex Schaefer, Cake and Eat It, Flora Kao, Jody Zellen, Meleko Mokgosi, Mira Rychner, Bob Golub, Marc James Léger, Matt Greco, Daniela Comani and Stih & Schnock, Aaron Burr Society, Dara Greenwald, Derek Curry, Ackroyd & Harvey, Pete Yahnke Railand, Lori Nelson, Dehlia Hannah and TWCDC (Together We Can Defeat Capitalism).

Capital Offense opens Saturday, January 28, 2012, and runs through March 11, 2012. Exhibition special events include an opening reception on Saturday, January 28, 2012 from 6:00 – 9:00pm, an evening of entertaining and thought provoking performances on Saturday, February 25, 2012 from 6:00 – 9:00pm with award winning Stand-up comic Bob Golub at 6pm and a Salon hosted by Cake and Eat it at 7:30pm. The exhibition closes on Sunday, March 11 from 1:00 – 4:00pm, with an engaging panel discussion including some of the participating artists and guest speakers (to be announced). Beacon Arts is located at 808 N. La Brea Ave., Inglewood, CA 90302. Regular gallery hours are from 1:00pm to 6:00pm Thursday through Saturday, Sundays 1:00pm – 4:00pm. For additional information please call 310-419-4077 or visit www.beaconartsbuilding.com

Capital Offense: The End(s) of Capitalism
Curator’s Statement:
Since the global economic crisis began in 2008, our economic situation has become all the more urgent to understand and discuss. Social unrest is on the rise as time passes and nothing changes.

Artists, intellectuals, and non-specialists alike are growing increasingly concerned with aspects of the global economic order, including: the destruction of the planet as a means to profit, the exploitation of artists and other workers as a means to economic and cultural capital, the deception of the populous (through fear tactics and disinformation) to maintain the status quo, the impact of gentrification and an unregulated housing market on affordable housing, the increasing power of corporations over people, and the effects of the recession on everyday life, to name just a few.

Artists, intellectuals, and concerned citizens of the world are engaging in various tactics to initiate social and economic change: analyzing the financial sector, illustrating the consequences of economic policies, illuminating relationships between the art world and the world of economic power, democratizing knowledge from specialized spheres, revealing the impact of the economy of fear, questioning capitalist systems of value, and organizing to find solidarity after years of atomization, again, to name a few.

As the disparity in wealth continues to grow, so does public interest in understanding and changing the social order that allowed for it. It is necessary to consider our own complicities in the impact that global capitalism is having on the world and its inhabitants. Please join us and add your voice to this important conversation.

Beacon Arts –

Housed within the iconic Beacon Arts Building, the venture offers innovative art programming to enrich the cultural landscape of Los Angeles. Its primary directive is to provide and maintain the integrity of an exhibition space for contemporary fine art by Southern California artists working in all media, including painting, sculpture, installation, video, and performance art. Works by both emerging and established artists are presented in an effort to provide a variety of ideas in different forms that both challenge and inspire. The endeavor seeks to enrich public understanding and appreciation of contemporary fine art by creating conversations through special events, lectures, symposia, and panel discussions with intellectual commentary on exhibitions. Beacon Arts is now over a year old, having completed its successful inaugural Critics-as-Curators series – consecutive shows conceived and curated by art writers and critics. This series ran for the first year of the space, from October 2010 to October 2011. The gallery plans to continue programming into 2012 with Prince at the Forum curated by Steven Bankhead and Jesse Benson March 24, 2012 – May 6, 2012 and a series of shows in the summer featuring our favorite artists (TBA), peppered with summer night video screenings.

Beacon Arts Building –

The 32,400-square-foot Beacon Arts Building is an iconic four-story, solid reinforced concrete structure located in the heart of the burgeoning Inglewood Arts District. Having stored inanimate items for close to sixty years, originally as the legendary Bekins Moving and Storage Company, this dramatic 1951 edifice has now transformed into a springboard and “beacon” for artistic expression. In addition to ground floor gallery and retail spaces, the building offers a gorgeous New York warehouse-style environment for professional artists, with spaces in various sizes up to 6,000 square feet with 11’6” ceilings. It has a high rear loading facility, large freight elevator, WiFi availability, and sprinkler system throughout. Beacon Arts Building sits prominently on La Brea Avenue, just South of Centinela, located only 11 minutes south of the 10 Freeway (I-10). Free parking is available in the on-site lot or on La Brea. For further information about availabilities in the Beacon Arts Building, please contact Scott Lane at 310-576-3543 or scottlaneco@yahoo.com. For more information, images, and interviews please contact Caroline Meer @ impulse2impact@gmail.com

From the deCordova website:

The 2012 deCordova Biennial is a survey exhibition focused on emphasizing the quality and variety of work rather than any single or overarching theme. Highlighting artists from across New England, the exhibition displays a diverse range of approaches to media and content. The exhibition is co-curated by deCordova Curator, Dina Deitsch and Independent Curator and former owner/director of the Judi Rotenberg Gallery, Boston, MA, Abigail Ross Goodman. The 2012 deCordova Biennial features 23 artists and collaboratives and will occupy almost the entirety of the Museum and beyond—reaching into the park, Boston, and nearby communities through several public, off-site projects.

The 2012 deCordova Biennial Artists:

Antoniadis & Stone      Caitlin Berrigan
Taylor Davis                   Jo Dery
Kim Faler                        Matthew Gamber
Jessica Gath                 Jonathan Gitelson
Eric Gottesman             Corin Hewitt
Lauren Kalman             Steve Lambert
Mary Lum                       Megan and Murray McMillan
Ann Pibal                        Matt Saunders
South End Knitters      Chris Taylor
Ven Voisey                    Anna Von Mertens
Joe Wardwell               Cullen Bryant Washington, Jr.
Joe Zane

For The 2012 deCordova Biennial Deitsch and Goodman invited Ian Berry, Curator, Tang Museum at Skidmore College; Richard Klein, Exhibitions Director, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum; and Denise Markonish, Curator, Mass MoCA to participate as Advisory Board contributors.

The 2012 deCordova Biennial will be accompanied by an 88-page, color catalogue featuring essays by the curators and a guest essay about public art by Gavin Kroeber.

Like the title says, the idea is that you’d hang this series of drawings in various rooms in your home.

Makes a great gift.

Statement about the work

Whenever asked, “How long did it take you to make this?” I always respond, “My whole life up to that moment.” And it’s true.

I never liked the idea that someone could just buy my work. I develop ideas forever, then struggle with finding a way to execute them that makes sense, often traversing through several iterations. And then someone writes a check and that’s the end. What?

I work too hard on this stuff. Simply paying for it and hanging it on a wall is too easy. I don’t want anything I do becoming another inanimate object that decorates someone’s home. I want more. I want ramifications!

So I came up with this. This feels more like a real transaction. Yes, you get to own something I made, but you also accept some responsibility. Put this on your wall and you have to be more honest as a result. It’s more than just an image, it becomes a point of interaction with everyone who comes into your home. It’s simple ink on paper, but wherever it hangs, there’re social implications.

It’s not for everyone.

Links to 20×200

We Have Had Sex In This Room
We Have Had Sex in This Room Also
Yup, This One Too

Stephen Duncombe and Steve Lambert are directors of the new Center for Artistic Activism.

Stephen Duncombe is an Associate Professor at the Gallatin School and the Department of Media, Culture and Communications of New York, where he teaches the history and politics of media.
Steve Lambert was a Senior Fellow at New York’s Eyebeam Center for Art and Technology from 2006-2010, developed and leads workshops for Creative Capital Foundation, and is faculty at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Many artists want to create work that has a social impact. Unfortunately most artists don’t learn how to do this. Drawing upon their own artistic and activist practice, their ongoing research project interviewing activist artists, and drawing from contemporary examples, Duncombe and Lambert will lay out common fallacies held by the “political artist.” They still believe, however, that thinking, acting, and creating artistically is essential for effective activism, and  will present strategies for sidestepping common pitfalls of political art-making and lessons in making political art work.

Sponsor: Center for the Arts in Society
Co-Sponsors: School of Art; Dean’s Office, College of Fine Arts