16 May 2013
UKS

EVENT
#03

It is with great excitement UKS Unge kunstneres samfund presents a talk by artists Amy Lien and Enzo Camacho at Lakkegata 55, Oslo. The artists will deliver a paper approaching the network discourse within contemporary art through an analysis of one of its prevalent motifs: self-cannibalism.

Self-cannibalism may be thought of as a distinct outgrowth of critical strategies and impulses, suited to the conditions of hyper-connectedness, but perhaps no longer even recognizable as critique. By giving examples of self-cannibalism in artistic practices including Merlin Carpenter’s, Jana Euler’s, Michael Krebber’s, David Lieske’s, and Jerry Magoo’s, the paper links these to a spectrum of negative or dysfunctional emotional registers, including rage, depression, heartbreak, and frigidity. Rather than understanding these emotional drives as puncturing through the entrapments of the network, they argue that damaged emotions are just as much produced by the network, and operate as its descriptive vectors, as fluidly as socially affirmative artistic practices do.

Lien and Camacho then offer another proposition: That negativity is in fact inherently a part of the network, and lies in the empty spaces that exist between connections. By approaching a proximate conceptualization of the negative already implied by network discourse, one runs greater risks than with tactics of self-cannibalism.

After the presentation a discussion with Qs and As will follow, moderated by UKS coordinator Mikael D. Brkic.

Enzo Camacho (b. 1985, Philippines) and Amy Lien (b. 1987, USA) are collaborating artists currently based in Berlin, Germany. They both graduated from Harvard University with a BA degree in Visual and Environmental Studies in 2007 and 2009, respectively and are currently attending the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg for a Masters in Fine Arts. Recent activity includes the solo exhibitions Abuses at MoSpace, Taguig, Philippines, 2012; Your body is not an implement but a ballistic at Pablo Fort, Taguig, Philippines, 2012; Witnesses in the Garden at Republikha Art Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines, 2011; and Café by the Ruins at 47 Canal, New York, USA, 2011; along with the performance Café by the Ruins Tour at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA, 2011. They have recently contributed to the publications Provence Magazine, edited by Hannes Loichinger and Tobias Kaspar, and 2012 (you were always on my mind), a 47 Canal publication edited by Margaret Lee and Domenick Ammirati, soon to be released.

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