Refiguring the Future, a partnership between REFRESH, Eyebeam, and Hunter College Galleries - Opens 2/8!
Solenoid Respirator Instr/augment. Photo: Sophia Barr Hayne & Lee Blalock.
Hello friends and family!
As you know, my REFRESH collaborators and I have been working hard over the last 3 years to develop new curatorial practices that invert the status quo in the field of art, science, and technology, and that begins with inclusion as a starting point. I am thrilled to invite you to our very first exhibition and conference Refiguring the Future, a collaboration with Eyebeam and Hunter College Galleries.
Discourses of science fiction, technology, and speculation have historically offered visions of the future that recapitulate dominant culture, projecting images of tomorrow through the existing capitalist, racist, and patriarchal structures of today. Interested in rupturing these systems, Refiguring the Future is inspired by artist Morehshin Allahyari’s use of “refiguring” as a feminist, decolonial, and activist practice. In this exhibition, curated by REFRESH collective members Heather Dewey-Hagborg and myself, we seek to “refigure the future”: to push, probe, tear apart, and re-envision what the future can be. Looking beyond the status quo, we sought out feminist, queer, decolonial, anti-racist, and anti-ableist artists concerned with our technological and political moment.
Informed by the punk ethos of DIY, the artists in Refiguring the Future deeply mine the historical and cultural roots of our current moment, pull apart the artifice of contemporary technology, and sift through the pieces to forge new visions of what is possible. Working across an array of mediums and approaches these artists address and examine a tumultuous present in order to produce a more inclusive future.
The conference, curated by REFRESH collective member Maandeeq Mohamed with REFRESH/Eyebeam curatorial fellow Lola Martinez, deepens our engagement with themes that emerge from the exhibition including world-building, ecologies, disability and accessibility, biotechnology and the body.
If you're in New York, please consider attending! But if you're not in New York, you will be able to live stream the conference. Please don't forget to follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
Artists in the exhibition include:
Barak ade Soleil, Morehshin Allahyari, Lee Blalock, Zach Blas, micha cárdenas and Abraham Avnisan, In Her Interior, shawné michaelain holloway, Mary Maggic, Lauren McCarthy, Claire Pentecost, Sonya Rapoport, Sputniko! and Tomomi, Stephanie Syjuco, and Pinar Yoldas.
The conference features keynote presentations from:
Thenmozhi Soundararajan, a Dalit rights activist and transmedia storyteller, songwriter, hip hop musician and technologist; Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (Princeton University), who examines the politics of social liberation movements; and Zach Blas, who uses queer and feminist methods to critically examine network culture.
More info below and on our websites:
Exhibition Details:
When: Feb—March (Opening: Feb 8, 2019 6 - 8 pm, and Closing: March 31, 2019)
Where: Hunter College Art Galleries, 205 Hudson Gallery
Conference Details:
February 9-10, 2019
Day 1: Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College
695 Park Ave, New York, NY 10065
10 am – 6 pm
Day 2: Knockdown Center
52-19 Flushing Ave, Maspeth, NY 11378
12 pm – 6 pm
Conference Participants:
Keynotes: Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Zach Blas. Featured participants include Morehshin Allahyari and Shirin Fahimi, Ruha Benjamin, micha cárdenas, Taeyoon Choi, Sofía Córdova, Hayley Cranberry, Jaskiran Dhillon, Kadija Ferryman, Shannon Finnegan, Aljumaine Gayle and Ladan Siad, Anneli Goeller, Kathy High, shawné michaelain holloway, In Her Interior (Virginia Barratt and Francesca da Rimini), Yo-Yo Lin, Cynthia Malone, Maandeeq Mohamed, Rasheedah Phillips, Legacy Russell, Tiare Ribeaux, Sofía Unanue, Alexander Weheliye, and Pinar Yoldas.
Please register for the conference ahead of time here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/refiguring-the-future-conference-tickets-53407927549