1 July 2010 to 15 Aug 2010
Thursday-Sunday, 11am-6pm
176
176 Prince of Wales Road
Chalk Farm
NW5 3PT
London
London
United Kingdom
Europe
p: +44 (0) 20 7428 8940
m:
f: +44 (0) 20 7 428 8949
w: www.projectspace176.com
176 Zabludowicz Collection is pleased to announce an exhibition of works by eight international artists who use natural and artificial systems. Each of the works constitutes a system and exploits the emergent properties, accidents or failures of that system to produce its effects. The works, selected from the Zabludowicz Collection, engage with industrial, found and raw materials, as well as sound, data and computers. The glitches and idiosyncrasies of software, the ecosystems that develop around organic materials, and the vagaries of machinery can be seen as evidence of new forms of organisation and self-organisation that often transcend the artist’s specific intentions. The artists uncover a world of unpredictable and surprising properties, and foreground the accidental features of their chosen materials.
Cory Arcangel’s Apple GarageBand autotune Demonstration (2007) applies a feature from an off-the-shelf software package to a clip of Jimi Hendrix playing the ‘Star Spangled Banner’, revealing the unanticipated and unsatisfactory shortcomings of supposedly optimal tuning.
Justin Beal’s Fruit Tables (2007) play out the various stages of ripeness and decay of organic matter in combination with industrial building materials. Over the duration of the exhibition, the by-products of decomposition constitute an emergent ecosystem of fungi, moulds and insects that inhabit the sculpture and exhibition space. They also display an ambivalent relationship with systematic histories of 20th century design and the categories of furniture and sculpture.
Sean Dack’s unique c-prints make creative use of the flaws that can spoil digital imagery. They reveal a seductive aesthetic that originates in the glitches, limitations and unintended effects of digital image technology.
Damien Hirst’s monumental vitrine sculpture Sometimes I Avoid People (1991) creates a self-regulating environment, a microcosm in which the circulation of gases required for human survival prompt questions about life cycles, and the fragility and autonomy of the human body.
Haroon Mirza has created two site-specific assemblages of audiovisual equipment, household furniture, audio components and, in Paradise Loft (2009), an existing artwork by Giles Round. These installations produce kinetic and sonic sculptures that give an impression of being self-regulated. His works can be seen as technological ecologies, in which subtle shifts in individual parts can create a strong impact on the system as a whole.
