On Thursday 4th CAS artists revisited images of The Laboratory of Dissent exhibition (2015) which ran for 5 weeks at the Winchester Gallery. Each artist selected an image, and passed it on to another artist for response. Artist Dawn Evans invited us to explore “porous thinking” and move away from the central image, to create […]
'The Laboratory of Dissent' Blog
The Laboratory of Dissent is a five week experimental project by CAS Artists at The Winchester Gallery from 24th August – 25th September 2015. The project treats the gallery as a site for investigation rather than a showcase for finished work. You can track the project on this blog where participating artists will log their contribution.
Mapping the domestic in the gallery space
Initially we agreed to divide the gallery space to different domestic areas: ‘living-room’, ‘kitchen’, ‘storage’, ‘library’, ‘music room’, ‘studio’. However, when artists came to the gallery they each set her work in a specific part of the gallery, pushing to the side the idea of allocating spaces as above. Susan chose a wall on which […]
Do You Reserve The Right To Make Your Own Meaning?
“Looking at concepts that are made [through art and design] is it important to look at the institutional role of developing meaning and creating conclusions that artists aren’t perhaps willing to make? Institutions like to have a product or concluded idea to sell.” August: “The institution of art critic and art historian, because they are people and professions, you […]
Tracking The Red Thread
At the beginning of The Laboratory of Dissent, I unearthed a poem I wrote about how I want to live. It was a frustrated poem, contrasting the urgent passion of individuality with the unthinking consumption of pre-packaged cultural norms and social agreements. It’s called ‘Shut Eye’ and I was able to draw from it a couple of motifs. The […]
Domesticating conflicts: presentation, text for panel discussion and other notes
Laboratory of Dissent Domesticating conflicts Bibliography Panel discussion – Symposium Laboratory of Dissent Laboratory Dissent Domesticating conflicts 2015 – 1 Domesticating conflict text for PPP
Reflecting on Domesticating Conflict
Like Susan, I like to start with a nature story which inspired my thoughts. As I was running through a field onto a narrow path last week, I saw a small mouse laying on her side, in the process of dying (I called her a “she”, as in French, mouse is feminine). I stopped […]
Seeing Beyond Propaganda
Do you ever get the impression you/we are being deliberately manipulated by media – images, narratives, and advertising? From an early age I have been interested in communication and the creation of meaning. Having whet my toes in the world of ‘media studies’ and ‘visual culture’ I have come to believe media literacy helps promote […]
Interview with Dr August Jordan Davis
Interview with Dr August Jordan Davis Director and Curator of The Winchester Gallery, Winchester School of Art 3.9.2015 By Yonat Nitzan-Green (This interview was conducted as part of Domesticating Conflicts, Laboratory of Dissent, 2015) Yonat: Thank you very much for giving me this time August: You are very welcome Y. You told me that you […]
Lab Notes: Seeing Beyond Identity
Friday 11th September A Discussion: “Identity as Identification” “Identities are never pre-given but are always the result of a process of identification” – Chantal Mouffe, ‘Agonistic Spaces, Artistic Activism’, p4 Intention: using images as a starting point for discussion I had planned to explore the process of identification and it’s relationship to identity as a cultural construct. To […]
Words Fail Me
An A4 page. A train of thought. New lines are aligned left, but also right, and sometimes centred, to indicate a change of voice or direction. The words point toward something that makes sense, but reading them feels like deciphering sense. I am compelled to read them aloud, as if that will make them sink in. On […]
Productive Uncertainty
Reflecting on the provocative, stimulating and productive first two weeks of this five week project last night, I was ruminating on the nature of unknowingness, of the productivity of the incomplete and provisional, and how this has manifested itself within this project and our collective exploration of dissent as a methodology within artistic and curatorial […]
Two slices of apple cake
Two slices of apple cake were brought to the two women who works at WSA’s canteen as a very small act of dissent. We recognize each-other based on previous brief friendly bits of conversations. I felt that this act will not humiliate or embarrass any of us. One may ask How is it dissenting? The […]
The Mourner
The Mourner, Performance view; preparation drawing; details 1-4 (Graphite powder, plastic glue, fabric, wood, books, brush, scissors) VIDEO: Yonat and Laurence, Domesticating conflicts: The Mourner Shade-Haunted Space Space, but you cannot even conceive the horrible inside-outside that real space is. Certain (shades) especially, grinding their loins one last time, […]
[Video] Decoding Meaning
On Thursday I reviewed the ‘Handover Document‘ prepared by Isaac and found it unintelligible. Peppered with multiple references to “we” and “they” it was wide open to interpretation. So wide, that reading it made me feel a bit lost. Discussing it with Isaac revealed new insights. A shared language began to develop as I became familiar […]
Seeing Beyond Consensus
Our world is awash with information. The messages being beamed at us are often repetitive and deliberately crafted: designed to influence us. Often the intention behind media such as news and advertising is to persuade us to adopt a specific belief, conclusion or behaviour. Learning to ask questions helps us to see beyond the intended message and make up […]