3.2. – 13.3.22

Polar Opposites

Exhibition

Exceptional States

Opening  February 3, 2022, 7pm 

Exhibition period  3.2. – 13.3.22

Artists  Keturah Cummings, Lucinda Dayhew, Carol Anne McChrystal

Curated by  Keturah Cummings, Lucinda Dayhew, Carol Anne McChrystal

A polar oppo­si­te is a ten­si­on as well as a geo­gra­phi­cal anchor. Geographically, the term refe­ren­ces the dia­me­tri­cal­ly oppo­si­te points of a sphe­re or anti­po­dal points on pla­net Earth, and are more com­mon­ly unders­tood as the North and South Poles. As an idi­om in the English lan­guage, it is used to descri­be peo­p­le who have oppo­si­te opi­ni­ons or characteristics.

Embodying a sen­se of soli­da­ri­ty across diver­se geo­gra­phies, the work of Keturah Cummings, Lucinda Dayhew, and Carol Anne McChrystal is con­nec­ted by the­ma­tic com­mo­n­a­li­ties revol­ving around urgent cul­tu­ral con­ver­sa­ti­ons on femi­nism, com­mu­ni­ty, and eco­lo­gy. Together, the work of the­se three artists explo­res the lite­ral and meta­pho­ri­cal frame­works of “polar oppo­si­tes” on local, glo­bal, and micro­c­os­mal scales.

Changes to the globe’s land­scapes and resour­ces are acce­le­ra­ting as humans geo-engi­neer, extra­ct, ter­ra­form, and modi­fy Earth to feed glo­bal sup­p­ly chains. In turn, the­se modi­fi­ca­ti­ons mould the ent­an­gled and ine­qui­ta­ble rela­ti­onships bet­ween the Global North and South.

The rela­ti­onships bet­ween the­se geo­gra­phies and their eco­lo­gies reve­al a glo­bal emer­gen­cy. The three artists included in this exhi­bi­ti­on reco­gni­ze that the social sys­tems under which they live are impli­cit in this des­truc­tion and trans­for­ma­ti­on:  the resul­ting envi­ron­men­tal impacts have fore­ver trans­for­med their rela­ti­onships with natu­re and one ano­ther. The sculp­tures, vide­os, sound works, and pho­to­graphs that emer­ge from the­se con­nec­tions con­sider the ways in which high­ly indi­vi­dua­list cul­tures work against plu­ra­list human natures.

The exhi­bi­ti­on will be com­ple­men­ted by an artist talk and an online lec­tu­re series with various experts and artists, inclu­ding a per­for­mance by the Treecore duo DDLD (( )) LDDD con­sis­ting of Dann Disciglio and Lucinda Dayhew, and an inter­ac­ti­ve work by sound and soft­ware artist Ashlin Aronin. The exhi­bi­ti­on ends with a finis­sa­ge — inclu­ding a per­for­mance by Lucinda Dayhew & Dann Disciglio as well as the launch of the maga­zi­ne “Human Nature”.

Exceptional States

Funding

Logo Stadt Leipzig Kulturamt