<div dir="ltr"><font face="georgia, serif">Dear all,</font><div><font face="georgia, serif"><br></font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif">as Shu Lea Cheang already announced the next topic is addressing the issues of "sex death love and ageing";</font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif"><br></font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif">Hereby I am sharing a textual proposal for an exhibition and a year-long project about different aspects of ageing; the history of that idea dates back to 2014 when I proposed it for the first time to an international group of colleagues who were brainstorming to find a topic for a group show; the proposal for an exhibition about ageing was dismissed with an argument that it is too depressing issue to be dealt with in an exhibition; I tried once more two years later and I got similar response; however, finally I will be able to implement the idea within the programme of MGLC - International Centre of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana, Slovenia;</font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif"><br></font></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"><font face="georgia, serif">Below is the outline of a project and exhibition (in the making) with a working title <i>On Ageing</i>; it shall address the phenomenon
of ageing primarily in visual arts as well as turning towards human sciences. </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"><font face="georgia, serif"> </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"><font face="georgia, serif">The outline:</font></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"><font face="georgia, serif"> </font></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><font face="georgia, serif"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt">The<i> On
Ageing</i></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"> project tends
to reflect on one of the most challenging and sensitive issues of contemporary
world – the ageing of its population and related socio-political, economic and
scientific concerns. It shall address diverse cultural aspects of ageing as well
as expose certain ethical questions that are in stark contrast to nowadays
omnipresent imperative of rationality and productivity. </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"><font face="georgia, serif"> </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"><font face="georgia, serif">Through
available theory and practical examples from the field of visual arts, the
exhibition will address and analyse issues related to ageing in modern
societies focusing on biological, socio-political, intimate and statistical
aspects of ageing. There are three main entries to the exhibition that will
address subjects such as ageing body (biological and sociological aspect),
ageing population (political and economic aspect), and representation of ageing
in history of art (cultural aspect). Furthermore, the issues such as euthanasia,
demography, biological ageing and longevity, ageing in visual culture, dementia,
and architecture and design for ageing population will be tackled. The exhibition
will look at the phenomena of ageing primarily from the point of view of
contemporary visual arts where the subject is still predominantly marginal.</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"><font face="georgia, serif"> </font></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"><font face="georgia, serif">The phenomenon of ageing population
of the world is usually raised on the level of alarming economic forecasts,
cuts in welfare system and discourses on the necessity of retirement reforms
shall be approached from many different perspectives. However, issue of ageing
is largely marginalised in mainstream contemporary (popular) culture, including
fine art. Some decades ago the western society had entered post-industrial and
consumerist era where everything is about (visual) appearances. Therefore,
popular culture and mass media of today are determined by the concept of health
and youthfulness which are often expressed in the imagery of perfect and vital
bodies. Conversely the images of old, imperfect or sick bodies are undesirable.
How does then the fact of ageing body, ageing population and longevity correspond
with today's reality? The issue which is not part of mainstream imagery and
public discourse can be much more easily found in theory, academia and arts (mainly
in cinema and literature). </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"><font face="georgia, serif">At the moment so called developed
world is facing ideological contradiction when on the one hand new discoveries
in science, technology, and medicine enable ever longer life expectancy and
better quality of life but on the other hand one is constantly bombarded by the
Darwinist indicators of unsustainability caused by decrease of active
population; despite the fact that so called “classic” workplaces are ever more
endangered with the development of robotisation and smart machines. The
questions raised by the project shall be approached from different and highly
interdisciplinary angles, as the answers are undoubtedly complex and ambiguous.
The<i> On Ageing</i> project
shall therefore touch upon some crucial and diverse aspects of ageing
population in the world and shall include artists, creators and experts of
diverse backgrounds whose work reaches beyond the field of visual art such as writers,
filmmakers, inventors, scientists, designers, architects, sociologists,
anthropologists, demographers and activists. </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"><font face="georgia, serif"> </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"><font face="georgia, serif">About Švicarija / MGLC – International Centre of Graphic Arts:</font></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"><font face="georgia, serif">Švicarija
is a residency and creative centre located in the central park of Ljubljana,
Slovenia. It is part of MGLC – International Centre of Graphic Arts, however,
it develops very distinctive and interdisciplinary programme based on the slogan
“community, art, and nature” which stretches beyond fine art into the
socio-political realm. With its specific infrastructure Švicarija runs
community projects, live art events, various discursive and learning
programmes, residency programmes as well as exhibitions. </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"><font face="georgia, serif"> </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"><font face="georgia, serif">MGLC – International Centre of Graphic Arts</font></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"><font face="georgia, serif">Pod turnom 3</font></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10pt"><font face="georgia, serif">1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia</font></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt"><b style=""><span style="font-size:10pt"><a href="http://www.mglc-lj.si/" style="color:navy"><font face="georgia, serif">http://www.mglc-lj.si/</font></a></span></b></p></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, 27 Sep 2019 at 07:52, Shu Lea Cheang <<a href="mailto:shulea@earthlink.net">shulea@earthlink.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>dear empyre-ers</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>The September month on -empyre-
doesnt seem to be ending, so many threads to follow up...</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Let me recall some moments - <br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>McKenzie Wark ever so inncocently –
11/09/2019 post<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana">So Sandy: can you tell
me a it about
ageing? I just turned 58 and am already a middle aged woman...<u></u><u></u></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana">Allucquere
Rosanne Stone ever so
cheerfully – 12/09/2019 post<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana">I
can
only tell you about aging from a personal perspective.<span> </span>So ok, I’m, what, 82, 83,
something?<span> </span>I write,
code, make stuff, and raise hell,
active in several professional fields, sex is terrific…if
anything, it gets
better with time.<span> </span>This
isn’t a tell-all,
so I’ll leave it at that.<span> </span>I
don’t hike,
climb, or snowboard as much as I did, but I’m beginning to
think that’s
psychological.<span> </span>Anyway,
if it’s words of
encouragement you want, you can have all I’ve got, and I’ve
got plenty.<span> </span>I’m fully
aware that my view is not a
universal one, and I can’t speak for trans* folk who find
aging hard.<span> </span>But from
this admittedly limited perspective,
in this particular embodiment, I intend to keep on
adventuring, theorizing, and
making love with the throttle pushed up to 110% until my body
simply
explodes.<span> </span>I invite you
to join me.<u></u><u></u></span></i></p>
<i>
</i>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Annie
Abrahams asked to bring back these topics - sex death love and
ageing<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="gmail-m_5210713866931972099MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0cm"><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Symbol" lang="IT"><span>·<span> </span></span></span><strong><span lang="IT">"</span></strong><i><span lang="IT">Annie Abrahams<strong><span>: </span></strong>The
belief that, after menopause, sexual intercourse goes on as
before is mistaken.
At least it didn’t for me. This made me really angry for some
time, as nobody
had warned me! It felt very lonely. I think that the sexual
life of
post-menopausal women is still very much a taboo subject that
people shun away
from.</span></i><span lang="IT">" <a href="http://digicult.it/digimag/issue-058/annie-abrahams-allergic-to-utopias/" target="_blank">http://digicult.it/digimag/issue-058/annie-abrahams-allergic-to-utopias/</a>
(2010)<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana" lang="IT"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana" lang="IT">For
these last few days of September as leaves yet to fall off the
branches, I like to introduce Annie Abrahams, also bring in </span><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana" lang="EN-GB">Miha Colner, the curator who’s
been preparing an exhibition <i><span>On Ageing at </span></i><span>MGLC – International Centre
of Graphic Arts (</span></span><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana" lang="EN-GB">Ljublijan, Slovania). </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(34,34,34)" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana">Annie Abrahams is a Dutch artist
living in France. She has a
M2 in biology from the University of Utrecht and a MA2 from the
Academy of Fine
Arts of Arnhem. In her work she questions the possibilities and
limits of communication,
specifically investigating its modes under networked conditions.
Using video
and performance as well as the internet, she develops what she
calls an
aesthetics of attention and trust, in which human behaviour is
the main
material. She is known worldwide for her netart and is an
internationally
regarded pioneer of networked performance art and collective
writing.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana">Full cv
bio (336 Ko) <a href="https://www.bram.org/info/aabrahams_cvbio_eng.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.bram.org/info/aabrahams_cvbio_eng.pdf</a><br>
2.3 Mo 20 pages with images - book <a href="https://www.bram.org/info/aabrahams_images.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.bram.org/info/aabrahams_images.pdf</a></span><span><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-GB">Miha Colner(1978) is an
art historian who works
as a curator at MGLC - International Centre of Graphic Arts,
Ljubljana. He is
also active as a publicist, specialised in photography,
printmaking, artists’
moving image and various forms of (new) media art. Since 2005 he
has been a
contributor of newspapers, magazines, specialist publications,
and his personal
blog, as well as part-time lecturer. He lives and works in
Ljubljana, Slovenia.</span><span><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Verdana"><a href="http://mihacolner.com/" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-GB">http://mihacolner.com</span></a></span><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(84,141,212)"> <br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-GB">Let's see how this run,
maybe try to smoke Sandy out of cave and get warkk to bring in
some techno beats!<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-GB">sl</span><br>
<span lang="EN-GB"></span><span><u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div>
_______________________________________________<br>
empyre forum<br>
<a href="mailto:empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au" target="_blank">empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au</a><br>
<a href="http://empyre.library.cornell.edu" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://empyre.library.cornell.edu</a></blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Miha Colner<br></div></div></div></div>M: +38631354843<br></div>E: <a href="mailto:miha.colner@gmail.com" target="_blank">miha.colner@gmail.com</a><br><span><a href="http://mihacolner.com" target="_blank">mihacolner.com</a></span><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>