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27/1/2011

Critical Complicity

Skuc Gallery, Ljubljana

Complicity is a micro-political coalition that operates at the very edges of every system of order. Its critical potential lies in the diversity of subversive modes of production that are nourished in the shadowy zones of dubious alliances. The core of our project is a topology of the complicit; three aspects that we consider as key sites of alternative artistic practices: the intersections of macro- and micro communities and its moments of interdependency, the frictions of illegal/legal as well as affect and seduction; and the field of tactical media. It is only the interrelation of these fields, however, that enables a productive presentation of critical complicity. The separating function of the categories 'producer-recipient' and related identity role-play within conventional art circuits will be exposed as an ideological construction blocking certain social energies just before they realise their critical potential.

Thus Critical Complicity includes the space of action in the process of reflection on the conditions of production and presentation of the project by instigating a split program: an exhibition at Kunsthalle Exnergasse in Vienna, a series of performative works in private-public spaces in Bolzano, and an exhibition and platform for discussion at Galerija Škuc in Ljubljana. For the idea of creating a 'platform' for discussion and collective exchange on model(s) of complicity, the notion of “tactical media” served as a challenging starting point. Allusion to the tacit, the realm of unspoken agreements underlying our social interactions, makes tactical media a means of complicity par excellence, and in many valid ways, a critical one.

To address these issues and articulate an operable model of critical complicity for future practice, the format of the “platform” is conceived of three interrelated elements: the artistic intervention, the circulating documentation and its framing via curatorial discourse. The Italian artist collective Alterazioni Video has conceived a performative action in public space that will be documented and shown in the exhibition spaces of Skuc gallery. Under the title "Where the hell is activism?" the group - together with the participants of the platform - will built a bridge of ropes across the Ljubljanica river. The presentation of the performative action in the gallery will be contextualized with other artistic projects by Alterazioni Video. In dialogue with this, the recent work of another collective, the Danish curatorial group Kuratorisk Aktion, will be on view at the gallery. Merging feminist, queer, and activist informed approaches, Kuratorisk Aktion pledge themselves to raise consciousness on the politics of representation and translate this consciousness into practice. On the second day a range of cultural practitioners from different contexts and you, the audience, shall form a discussion group that evaluates, questions and furthers the concept of „critical complicity“.

Contributors:
Alterazioni Video, Denis Isaia, Andreas Fogarasi, Janez Janša, Kuratorisk Aktion, Sebastjan Leban, Katharina Schlieben, Andrea Thal / Les Complices

Organized by:
Tevž Logar, Lisa Mazza, Julia Moritz

Publication:
Kritische Komplizenschaft / Critical Complicity, Schlebrügge.Editor Vienna, ISBN 978-3-85160-186-2, 18,00 EUR with additional contributions by Learning Site & Jaime Stapleton, Barbara Steiner, Gesa Ziemer. (http://www.schlebruegge.com)

Opening Friday 28 January, 3pm

Skuc Gallery
Stari trg 21 - Ljubljana
Admission free

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