2017
Art on the edge

DATA OF INTEREST

GUEST:
Critical Art Ensemble (CAE)


Synopsis:

When Instar's educational initiative was launched in November 2017, its first project was an experience centered around contemporary art's capacity for civic engagement. We employed new technologies that proved to be well suited for public performances and interactions.

The US-based art collective Critical Art Ensemble (CAE), whose members include intellectuals working in the visual arts, literature, criticism, and environmental activism, developed the artistic guidelines. Claire Pentecost, Brian Holmes, and Steve Kurtz participated in dialogues with visual artists, musicians, actors, journalists, and cultural promoters interested in the intersection between technology, scientific research, the environment, activism, and art.

There was great interest in developing aesthetic constructs with the capacity to impact real-life social circumstances. Citizen demands and the way these are surrounded by a climate of fear were important topics of discussion. The fact that immigration authorities called the workshop participants into their office for questioning and interrogated the Instar coordinator for three hours was a perfect example of the particular complexities of our society that were being called into question during our discussions. As Steve Kurtz said: "The fear about what's being talked about during the workshop seems like a poorly kept secret, but the tourists don't even know the workshop exists. At the same time, there's so much joy and camaraderie here, and I can't explain how such opposite experiences can coexist together."

The workshop culminated in the drafting of a text, "Podemos confiar los unos en los otros" (We Can Trust One Another). This phrase was paraded around the city, printed on the sweatshirts that the members of the group were wearing, as a conscious act to confront and neutralize paranoia. Critical Art Ensemble (CAE) is a collective of five tactical media practitioners of various specializations including computer graphics and web design, film/video, photography, text art, book art, and performance. Formed in 1987, CAE’s focus has been on the exploration of the intersections between art, critical theory, technology, and political activism. The group has exhibited at the Whitney Museum and the New Museum in NYC, the Corcoran Museum in Washington DC, and the ICA in London.


Bio:

Brian Holmes

Holmes is Professor of Philosophy at The European Graduate School, Saas-Fee. He received a PhD in Romance Languages and Literatures from the University of California, Berkeley and is the author of Hieroglyphs of the Future: Art and Politics in a Networked Era. Holmes was the English editor of publications for Documenta X (Kassel). He has a blog called Continental Drift, where he writes about geopolitics and geopoetics. He has collaborated with creative collectives such as Ne Plas Plier and 16 Beaver Group.

Claire Pentecost

Pentecost is a US-based artist and writer who researches the living matters of food, agriculture and bio-engineering. She is professor and chair of photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has exhibited work at the 13th Istanbul Biennial in 2013 and Documenta 13 (Kassel, 2012). She is a member of the Critical Art Ensemble collective.

Steve Kurtz

Steve Kurtz is a US-based artist, writer, educator, and former professor of art. His work is focused on politically engaged art, interventionist practices, research, communications, and cultural action dealing with biotechnology and the environmental struggle. He is a founding member of Critical Art Ensemble (CAE).