The Typhoon Continues and So Do You
Curated by Elizabeth Larison, Douglas Paulson, Chen Tamir, Ginger Shulick, Christina Vassallo
April 1 - May 1, 2011
Flux Factory / Long Island City, Queens
The Typhoon Continues and So Do You is an exhibition of new works through which artists contemplate four specific “artifacts” of war and how their original purposes are transformed through integration into larger society.
Armed conflict leads to unique forms of expression that pervade contemporary culture in myriad ways both visible and invisible, tangible and abstract. Deciding on objects and images that were originally intended for use by various institutions or political movements and that later experienced a re-appropriation by larger society, we considered how they came to occupy a different meaning in daily life. They are: (1) Transcript of the Milosevic war crimes trial at The Hague, (2) Balaclava face mask, adopted as a symbol of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, (3) US Army recruitment video game, and (4) North Korean Hell March video and the ensuing discussion posted on YouTube.
Artists’ responses include a video featuring a repentant Milosevic, an eerily playful floor installation that will illustrate America’s involvement in armed conflicts around the world, competing recruitment videos in the style of Civil War reenactments, and a series of plays that reinterpret Subcomandante Marcos’ actions through the text of Japanese revolutionary Yukio Mishima.
Participating artists include Vahap Avsar, Hector Canonge, Joseph DeLappe, Patrick Dintino, Nick Fevelo, Yevgeniy Fiks, Gregory Green, Harvey Loves Harvey, Pablo Helguera & Colectivo Mishima, Yael Kanarek, Kristian Kozul, Julia Kul, Elizabeth Larison, Brian Leo, Paolo Pedercini, Public Studio, Ryan Roa, Christopher Robbins, Sayeh Sarfaraz, Aida Sehovic, and Matthew Sleeth. Reader contributions by Rodney Dickson, Pauline Julier, Biko Koenig, Nick Kolakowski, Carin Kuoni, Morgan Meis, Catherine McMahon, Gregory B. Moynahan, Oliver Ressler, A.E. Souzis, and Mona Vatamanu & Florin Tudor.