Which of them went before, and which followed after, and which were together?
21 - 30 October 2011
Birmingham Contemporary Art Forum is delighted to announce it will be hosting The Event’s third bi-annual visual art festival from 21 – 30 October 2011. As part of The Event 2011, Grand Union will be hosting a group exhibition devised and selected through a process of curatorial relay.
Alluding to the theme of The Event, Plato's Symposium, the exhibition will be formed as a space of multiple voices; different positions coming together and merging indistinctly to link back to a common thread.
The first curator has selected a work in response to the overall context of the festival, this choice was sent to the second curator, who has responded to this choice with another work. The exhibition begins to form as the two selected works are passed to the third curator who has responded. With the fourth choice of work the exhibition is finalised, and ready to be expanded by a series of collateral events.
The first selected artist is Tom Dale (London, UK). Dale’s piece, a newly commissioned installation, makes reference to the Allegory of the Cave: a place of illusions and tricks, a place where we doubt if what we are experiencing is reality, shadows, or shadows of shadows.
This is where it has all begun.
Curated by Helen Brown, Tim Dixon, Marialaura Ghidini, Cheryl Jones and Alex Lockett, the exhibition will feature work by Trisha Baga, Erik Bünger, Tom Dale and a new semi-permanent commission for Grand Union by Simon Faithfull.
Events
Karin Kihlberg and Reuben Henry
Apeirophobia Book Launch , plus Open Studios
Friday 21 October, 5 – 9pm
Alongside the exhibition launch on Friday 21 October, artists based at Grand Union will open their studios for visitors.
Here Karin Kihlberg and Reuben Henry will present a limited edition print for Grand Union Editions, a video of a recent book launch, as well as their newly shot book, with texts by Emma Cocker, Brian Dillon and Mladen Dolar. Presented as part of a series of evolving solo commissions with Kihlberg & Henry, produced by VIVID in collaboration with Danielle Arnaud and Artsway.
Erik Bünger The Third Man
Performance Lecture
Thursday 27 October 2011, 8 - 9pm
"As a child my father told me about the movie: In a city somewhere, a man searches for another man. Everyone he meets tells him that his search is in vain, for the other man is already dead, but he refuses to give up and suddenly he believes he catches a glimpse of the other man’s face in a doorway. Then dad sat down in front of the piano and in his own tiptoeing kind of way he played ‘The Theme from the Third Man’. It made me dream of footsteps echoing in back alleys and a great, green shadow flickering by in the corner of my eye. Every time I heard that melody I had the peculiar feeling of someone observing me from a hidden viewpoint."
Helen Brown Open Call
Friday 28 October 2011, 7.30 - 9 pm
A multi-screen installation of re-worked artist video curated by Helen Brown.
Partecipating artists: Dan Auluk, Phil Barber, Jacob Cartwright & Nick Jordan, Adam Chodzko, Chris Clinton, Joseph Cutts, Sean Edwards, Ben Fredericks, Anne Guest, Jo Masding, Sarah Fortes Mayor, Samuel Playford Greenwell, Klaus Thymann, Andrew & Caitlin Webb Ellis, Katy Woods.
