Artists Space

The Issues of Our Time (3):
Less Time More Issues

April 12 – April 27, 2014

Curated by castillo/corrales

A clay sculpture of a person, outstretched on a sofa, with miscellaneous items around them, is displayed on a wooden floor.
The Issues of Our Time. Installation view, Artists Space, 2014. Photo: Adam Reich. [A clay sculpture of a person, outstretched on a sofa, with miscellaneous items around them, is displayed on a wooden floor.]

This third edition of the project The Issues of Our Time follows two previous iterations at castillo/corrales, a co-operatively run non-profit art space in Paris. In the context of Artists Space Books & Talks, the project will involve contributions from artists, writers and curators including Valentin Boure, Thomas Boutoux, Antonia Carrara, Andreas Führer, Joachim Hamou, Egija Inzule, Morag Keil, Hans-Christian Lotz, Mélanie Matranga, Fionn Meade, Lili Reynaud Dewar, Kari Rittenbach, Jason Simon, and Benjamin Thorel.

With the subtitle “Less Time, More Issues,” the event-based exhibition is structurally thought of as an open-ended setting: a site for circulating problems and methods, keeping the trace of social constraints and intimate behaviors.

When making things public, what makes sense is what takes time; what takes value are displacements, misunderstandings, and trafficking. Commonplaces, stories, well-worn references and emotions, are the tokens that allow us to handle the awkward and embarrassing necessity of how-to-perform-one’s-own-life. Some may rely on adolescence once again, and the naivety factor that is supposed to come along with it; others would turn to the truth-telling essayistic rhetoric, considering the distance they have with themselves. There’s no reason to take for granted the usual, inevitable, forms-of-life and self-assured acts-of-thought. “In youth we are, but in age we seem.” Is that to say we never become?

It’s not so much that moods and affects have to be kept secret and hidden. Do we have to say it once more – they’re structured through déjà-vu, and we already found most of the words for them in half-forgotten songs and brusque quotes. What matters, tonight, is what is behind the scene, not as something mysterious, or as one of the last tricks in the sleeve; but as the dailyness of things, the eventlyness of it all: the course of our lives, observed from too close a distance, in the middle of affairs. In the shadow of a moment things are irrevocably done – as if there was no time to say, “yes” with any conviction.

Something ever comes of all persistent inquiry; we are not so continually curious for nothing. We may already be over-fond of a certain imaginary image of our lives and friends; and then refer to a certain imagined ghost of that same imagined image. What is at stake is not the search for the “right” stuff or position – it’s the possibility to deal with prerequisites in order to twist the game.

April 13, 2014

No Lectures
Conversation & Screening
7pm

April 16, 2014

The Biographical Illusion
Screening & Discussion
7pm

April 18, 2014

Restless
Performance & Screening
7pm

To the right, a gray silhouette of a woman with her hands on her hips is installed on a white wall. Exposed wires run from an electrical socket to the left of her legs to a box on the ground. A television monitor sits on the ground in front of the back of a projection screen positioned between two standing speakers.
The Issues of Our Time. Installation view, Artists Space, 2014. Photo: Adam Reich. [To the right, a gray silhouette of a woman with her hands on her hips is installed on a white wall. Exposed wires run from an electrical socket to the left of her legs to a box on the ground. A television monitor sits on the ground in front of the back of a projection screen positioned between two standing speakers.]
On the left, two cream-colored folding chairs sit underneath a clear lampshade descending from the ceiling. On the right, the back of a projection screen is positioned between two standing speakers. A monitor sits on the ground beneath the screen.
The Issues of Our Time. Installation view, Artists Space, 2014. Photo: Adam Reich. [On the left, two cream-colored folding chairs sit underneath a clear lampshade descending from the ceiling. On the right, the back of a projection screen is positioned between two standing speakers. A monitor sits on the ground beneath the screen.]
A television monitor positioned on the ground with its wiring exposed. A pair of headphones rests on the ground to the right of the monitor. It displayes a still image of a washed-out portrait that implies movement through the blurring and repeititon of the face.
The Issues of Our Time. Installation view, Artists Space, 2014. Photo: Adam Reich. [A television monitor positioned on the ground with its wiring exposed. A pair of headphones rests on the ground to the right of the monitor. It displayes a still image of a washed-out portrait that implies movement through the blurring and repeititon of the face.]
Two gray silhouettes displayed next to each other on a white wall. In front of them, a gray table displays colorful documents.
The Issues of Our Time. Installation view, Artists Space, 2014. Photo: Adam Reich. [Two gray silhouettes displayed next to each other on a white wall. In front of them, a gray table displays colorful documents.]
Four copper squares embedded with images and text lean against a white wall. The squares sit on a tan carpet.
The Issues of Our Time. Installation view, Artists Space, 2014. Photo: Adam Reich. [Four copper squares embedded with images and text lean against a white wall. The squares sit on a tan carpet.]
A miniature clay sculpture sitting on a gray table. The sculpture depicts a woman folding over, cross-legged, on carpet. Miscelaneous items are dispersed across the carpets.
The Issues of Our Time. Installation view, Artists Space, 2014. Photo: Adam Reich. [A miniature clay sculpture sitting on a gray table. The sculpture depicts a woman folding over, cross-legged, on carpet. Miscelaneous items are dispersed across the carpets.]
A miniature clay sculpture of a man sitting, cross-legged, in an armchair is displayed on a carpeted floor. A curled wire extends from underneath the edge of the carpet where it meets the wooden floor below it.
The Issues of Our Time. Installation view, Artists Space, 2014. Photo: Adam Reich. [A miniature clay sculpture of a man sitting, cross-legged, in an armchair is displayed on a carpeted floor. A curled wire extends from underneath the edge of the carpet where it meets the wooden floor below it.]
A clay sculpture of a person, outstretched on a sofa, with miscellaneous items around them, is displayed on a wooden floor.
The Issues of Our Time. Installation view, Artists Space, 2014. Photo: Adam Reich. [A clay sculpture of a person, outstretched on a sofa, with miscellaneous items around them, is displayed on a wooden floor.]
The floor of a gallery space divided into two sections, with wooden flooring on the left and carpeted flooring on the right. On the left, a fold-out table displays colorful documents. On the right, four minature copper squares sit on the ground next to two cream-colored foldable chairs. Multiple wires extend across the floor and under the carpet.
The Issues of Our Time. Installation view, Artists Space, 2014. Photo: Adam Reich. [The floor of a gallery space divided into two sections, with wooden flooring on the left and carpeted flooring on the right. On the left, a fold-out table displays colorful documents. On the right, four minature copper squares sit on the ground next to two cream-colored foldable chairs. Multiple wires extend across the floor and under the carpet.]
Gray silhouettes are displayed on adjacent walls. Miscellaneous items are displayed on gray tables. A microphone and its extended wire lays on the floor in front of a speaker.
The Issues of Our Time. Installation view, Artists Space, 2014. Photo: Adam Reich. [Gray silhouettes are displayed on adjacent walls. Miscellaneous items are displayed on gray tables. A microphone and its extended wire lays on the floor in front of a speaker.]
Three large windows are covered with a sheer fabric that includes faded printed text and images. Two gray silhouettes are displayed on the adjacent wall to the left. To the right, an electrical panel with exposed wires sits in the corner.
The Issues of Our Time. Installation view, Artists Space, 2014. Photo: Adam Reich. [Three large windows are covered with a sheer fabric that includes faded printed text and images. Two gray silhouettes are displayed on the adjacent wall to the left. To the right, an electrical panel with exposed wires sits in the corner.]
A black cord sticks out from underneath a tan carpet. Wires are visible running underneath the carpeted floor throughout the frame.
The Issues of Our Time. Installation view, Artists Space, 2014. Photo: Adam Reich. [A black cord sticks out from underneath a tan carpet. Wires are visible running underneath the carpeted floor throughout the frame.]
Three metal cutouts of hands hold neon green cards displayed on a white wall. The hand on the rightmost side of the wall is holding up its middle finger.
The Issues of Our Time. Installation view, Artists Space, 2014. Photo: Adam Reich. [Three metal cutouts of hands hold neon green cards displayed on a white wall. The hand on the rightmost side of the wall is holding up its middle finger.]
A metal cutout of a hand, holding up its middle finger with others curled back, is installed on a white wall. The hand holds a stack of neon cards. Black text on the front of the top card reads, "High five, girls earned the point, they have a good feel."
The Issues of Our Time. Installation view, Artists Space, 2014. Photo: Adam Reich. [A metal cutout of a hand, holding up its middle finger with others curled back, is installed on a white wall. The hand holds a stack of neon cards. Black text on the front of the top card reads, "High five, girls earned the point, they have a good feel."]
Three metal cutouts of hands, each displaying a different finger expression, are installed on a white wall. Each hand holds stacks of white, blue, and purple cards.
The Issues of Our Time. Installation view, Artists Space, 2014. Photo: Adam Reich. [Three metal cutouts of hands, each displaying a different finger expression, are installed on a white wall. Each hand holds stacks of white, blue, and purple cards.]

The Issues of Our Time Exhibition Checklist

The Issues of Our Time (3) forms part of a series of events organized by curator Fionn Meade, occurring across several spaces in downtown New York and addressing the shifting relationship between art and value. This series takes place as part of ART², a month-long platform presented by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the U.S., in collaboration with the New York presenters Institut français, the French Ministry of Culture and Communication and FACE (French American Cultural Exchange).

This project is also funded in part by Etant donnés: the French-American Fund for Contemporary Art, a program of FACE and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the U.S., with funding from the Florence Gould Foundation.