HERMAPHROGENESIS: Marcin Gawin

as part of the FACET programme

2023

VSSL Studio 

ABOUT:
“Long ago, in Ancient Rome, the organs and entrails of sacrificed animals were decoded and interpreted by those tasked with defining the limits of reality. This ancient divination technique— called haruspicy – was performed by a trained priest – called a haruspex – who ritually consulted the liver, lungs, and heart of skinned beasts to discern the will of the gods.

Interdisciplinary artist Marcin Gawin performs a hybrid form of haruspicy in their new installation Hermaphrogenesis, remixing occult divination techniques with queer aesthetics in new forms of media. Here, the artist is interested in the body as a metaphor for the mutability of fixed systems. They hack biology by skinning the sciences, exposing the heteropatriarchal and anthropocentric institutionalization of bodies, both inner and outer, as a cyberpunk/witch haruspex. They etch, sculpt, diagram, exegete, cast, photograph, and manipulate a trinity of hand-crafted silicone organs, leaving us to decipher the will of the queer gods the artist has invoked on our behalf...” (complete text available here)

- Hermaphrogenesis: Organs as Ruins of the Posthuman Body , commissioned exhibiton text from [M] Dudeck 

vssl-studio.org/FACET

CREDITS:
Curated by Benjamin Sebastian on behalf of VSSL Studio. Assistant curators: Ash McNaughton & Mine Kaplangi. Funded by Arts Counicl England.

Frutas Maduras: Rocío Boliver

2023

VSSL Studio
(as part of the FACET programme)

ABOUT:
“...Boliver's collaboration with photographer Karolina Bazydlo and collaborator Bartlomiej Gudejko (Rocio’s lover at the time) for the FACET program is a bold challenge to the invisibility of the aging female form and female sexuality. The photographic series of twelve images centers the aging female body within the realm of sexual pleasure, desire, and erotic play. The artist has reimagined the conventional 'pin up' calendar idea and created exquisite portrayals of womanly autonomy and female sexuality...”

vssl-studio.org/FACET

CREDITS:
Curated by Benjamin Sebastian on behalf of VSSL Studio. Assistant curators: Ash McNaughton & Mine Kaplangi. Funded by Arts Counicl England.


Launch event of Frutas Maduras: Rocío Boliver - Video courtesy of Marco Berardi & Baiba Sprance.

Frutas Maduras: Rocío Boliver (in collaboration with Karolina Bazydlo and Bartlomiej Gudejko) - Images courtesy of Marco Berardi & Baiba Sprance.

Frutas Maduras: Rocío Boliver (in collaboration with Karolina Bazydlo and Bartlomiej Gudejko) - Images courtesy of Marco Berardi & Baiba Sprance.

Frutas Maduras: Rocío Boliver - Rocío Boliver performing in collaboration with Karolina Bazydlo and Bartlomiej Gudejko - Images courtesy of Marco Berardi & Baiba Sprance.

Frutas Maduras: Rocío Boliver - Rocío Boliver performing in collaboration with Karolina Bazydlo and Bartlomiej Gudejko - Images courtesy of Marco Berardi & Baiba Sprance.

June Lam

2023

VSSL Studio
(as part of the FACET programme)

ABOUT:
“...Collage has a rich history in queer aesthetics and has been a favoured medium for many queer artists. The act of collage-making mirrors the world-making practices of queer culture, where individuals and communities necessarily have learnt to explode, edit, discard and reassemble societal norms and expectations to create their own forms of identities, communities and aesthetics. In this sense, collage can be seen as a form of resistance to dominant cultural narratives and a way to create new possibilities and futures. June Lam's use of collage in his work for the FACET programme continues this tradition. June will be exhibiting 25 new and recent collage works, initiated during the COVID-19 Lockdowns....”

vssl-studio.org/FACET

CREDITS:
Curated by Benjamin Sebastian on behalf of VSSL Studio. Assistant curators: Ash McNaughton & Mine Kaplangi. Funded by Arts Counicl England.

June Lam - Launch event - Video courtesy of Marco Berardi & Baiba Sprance.

June Lam - Images courtesy of Marco Berardi & Baiba Sprance.

June Lam - Images courtesy of Marco Berardi & Baiba Sprance.

June Lam - Images courtesy of Marco Berardi & Baiba Sprance.

June Lam - Images courtesy of Marco Berardi & Baiba Sprance.

intersect

Kelvin Atmadibrata in conversation with selina bonelli


2023

Live Art Development Agency
(as part of the Intersect Series) 

ABOUT:
Intersect is a series of gatherings, making space for creative communities to share insights into embodied practices that reflect intersectional ways of being. Affirming the ‘liveness’ of the process, each gathering is unique, allowing for the featured participant(s) to co-design how they might imagine what the exchange with those who attend may look like: an embodied dialogue between artists; a sharing of a new experimental work in progress witnessed virtually and/or in-person; or an open forum where key research questions of interest are explored and discussed.

This gathering was curated by ]performance s p a c e[ and consisted of a short, live performance from visual artist Kelvin Atmadibrata followed by a conversation between him and artist-academic selina bonelli about Kelvin’s extended creative practice and influences. The evening concluded with a Q&A session.

weblink

CREDITS:
Curated by Benjamin Sebastian on behalf of ]performance s p a c e [ and the Live Art Development Agency. 

intersect: Kelvin Atmadibrata in conversation with selina bonelli. 2023 - images by Natalia Damigou-papoti.

intersect: Kelvin Atmadibrata in conversation with selina bonelli. 2023 - images by Natalia Damigou-papoti.