BEYOND
The Crypt Gallery, London, UK
Co-curated with Jennifer Sun, Yiwen Li and Charlotte Yuan
Featured artists:
Yiwen Li, Julie Maurin, Frederika Dalwood, Estefania B. Flores,
Chaney Diao, Polina Osipova, Malu Laet, Bo Sun, Sofia Bordin,
Maria Joranko, Jiemin Ren, Maximilian Prag, Jiayi Li, Chen Di,
Deng Lina, Chika Annen, Ajla Yi, Samuel Barbier-Ficat
To affirm is not to bear, carry, or harness oneself to that which exists, but on the contrary to unburden, unharness, and set free that which lives.
— Gilles Deleuze, Nietzsche and Philosophy
— Gilles Deleuze, Nietzsche and Philosophy
What is our relation towards the future if the present is obscure, thus diminishing the possibilities for alternative realities or existence? In this instance, we turn ourselves to the concept of fictioning, as formulated by David Burrows and Simon O'Sullivan in their book by a similar title. Defined as a practice of 'writing, imaging, performing or other material instantiation of worlds or social bodies that mark out trajectories different to those engendered by the dominant organisations of life currently in existence', fictioning thereby strives to avoid becoming a mere simulation, parody, or simulacra — a problem addressed since Plato's writings regarding the deceptive nature of art.
The book, performing its own practice of fictioning, defines and maps out three myth-functions — mythopoesis, myth-science and mythotechnesis — that, although presented separately, all deeply entangled with each other. This results in the fact that different art practices may carry out more than one of these myth- functions. 'Beyond' takes as a point of departure the two latter concepts of myth- science and mythotechnesis and thus aims to explore what fictioning as a tool can offer us if we specifically address the problematics of non-European and diasporic cultures, the division between nature and culture, and future human-machine relations and assemblages.
The context of the Crypt Gallery, where 'Beyond' takes place, helps us to unpack the initial concept further in a spatio-temporal sense. The space, which opened in 1822 as a part of St Pancras Parish Church, has a rich and complex history, having changed its purpose many times. It became a final resting place for more than five hundred people over the course of the first 30 years of its existence, in both World Wars it was used as an air raid shelter, and in 2002 it was finally reopened as a permanent gallery space. As a place in which different space-time relations were manifested throughout its existence, the Crypt acts as a fitting environment to meditate on the possible synchronous nature of time. Taking as a premise the idea of a non-linearity of time, with the past and future equally not fixed or determinate, we aim to explore the potential encounters that might happen between them — the thing enabled by the very idea of fictioning.
Emerging from these points of contact the exhibition aims to explore fictioning from two main points of view: how it can serve as a resource against the existing frameworks of the present and take a critical power in analysing them. While the artists in the project employ fictioning in different ways — as only a small patch of fictionalised presents or pasts or by creating complete alternative realities — what brings them together is the belief in its transformative power. By imagining possibilities yet to come we make a first step towards building a future that embodies our deepest aspirations for a newer, more unconventional, and infinite world.
General Information + List of Works
Julie Maurin, HAPPINESS FOR EVERYBODY, FREE, AND MAY NO ONE BE LEFT BEHIND! / SOME CONTRACTS WITH MYSELF / PARTY AT THE END OF THE WORLD, 2023. Round metal table, glasses, newspapers, coins, spills, pills, flowers, silicone, epoxy resin, xanthan gum, 200x150x50 cm. Image courtesy the artist.
1. (left) Lina Deng, bottoms up and the devil laughs, 2023. Mixed media, 160x170 cm. Image courtesy the artist and Jennifer Sun. Photographed by Alex Radota.
2. (right) Ajla Yi, Apoptosis ll, 2021. Polylactic acid, metal trays, hooks, chains, dimensions variable. Image courtesy the artist and Jennifer Sun. Photographed by Alex Radota.
Maximilian Prag, lore of interfering event, 2023. Resin, metal, chains, 40x40x60 cm. Image courtesy the artist and Jennifer Sun. Photographed by Alex Radota.
1. (left) Frederika Dalwood, World is suddender than we fancy it, 2023. Hama bead tapestry on lightbox, 60x60cm. Image courtesy the artist and Jennifer Sun. Photographed by Alex Radota.
2. (right) Maria Joranko, INTRATERRESTIA: MARIETTE, 2023. London earth, cardboard, wood foraged from Epping Forest, tulip petals, rose petals, used soap, mirrors, UK5 shoe size. Image courtesy the artist and Jennifer Sun. Photographed by Alex Radota.
Bo Sun, Silent Bird, 2023. Aluminium, resin, metal fixtures, strings, 50x50x28 cm. Image courtesy the artist and Jennifer Sun. Photographed by Alex Radota.
Jiayi Sun, Infection series, 2023-ongoing. Acrylic, metal, dimensions variable. Image courtesy the artist and Jennifer Sun. Photographed by Alex Radota.