The Arts Catalyst

Truth - The Interrogation

The Arts Catalyst team spent a very cold day in a dilapidated, darkened office suite in Liverpool on Saturday, processing the volunteer 'self-experimenters' who came to take part in the Office of Experiments' art performance/experiment Truth Serum.  It was fascinating to see the volunteers as they arrived and waited for processing - having first been whisked away from FACT in a car driven by a sullen man in sunglasses to this secret location, accessed through an anonymous door in an indoor CCP car park.  Some were white with nerves, others looked apprehensive but game, one approached the exercise with confrontational belligerence, one attempted to run away as soon as she stepped out of the car and had to be persuaded to come back, two towards the end of the day just grinned confidently (had they been briefed, or simply been in the FACT bar for a time?).  Guided from darkened room to darkened room by shady persons calling themselves Randy, the volunteers were assigned a number, asked to sign a waiver, given a truth serum if so designated, and asked to wait for their interrogation.

Truth Serum was an artistic experiment in gentle disorientation and destablilisation and an exploration of truth, belief, responsibility and art.  It incorporated a number of mild interrogation techniques and psychological games.  In the event, all the participants – however nervous they looked beforehand - responded well to the interrogation and appeared to leave calm and thoughtful.

We are very grateful to all the brave souls who took part. 

Abnormal

Ju Gosling's exhibition 'Abnormal' is at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) at Mill Hill in North London until the end of the month. Ju has been artist-in-residence at the NIMR, looking at how scientists regard disability and "normality" and whether there is a 'scientific model of disability' as distinct from the much-discussed 'medical model'. Her residency has included a series of conversations with the scientists Malcolm Logan and Evelien Gevers - recorded on the project's website. Ju concludes that there is a 'Scientific Model of Disability' held within society - disability is abnormal: science will 'cure' it - but she notes that this model is neither scientific nor reflects the views of individual scientists. She argues that it is, in fact, extremely unhelpful to scientists, placing unnecessary pressures on them and hampering their work. Whilst some of the artworks in this exhibition have unequivocal messages and the wall-texts are highly informational, the conversations that the artist has had with the scientists, and the context in which she has been working, has led to a series of works that come across as thoughtful and enquiring, rather than polemical.

Nicola Triscott, Director

Image: Design4Life, Ju Gosling, 2008 (click to enlarge)

Meanwhile, on Mars ...

I gave a talk at the Barbican on Saturday night, as part of the programme for the Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art exhibition.  I was on a panel to explore the boundaries between fact and fiction, reality and fantasy.  The other speaker was the poet Maurice Riordan  and it was chaired by Sian Ede, Arts Director, Gulbenkian Foundation.  I showed Jem Finer and Ansuman Biswas' Zero Genie, from 2001, and Simon Faithfull's Escape Vehicle No. 6 from 2004, and asked the question why do this stuff for real rather than simulate it.  The audience was a real mix, from families with pre-teen kids to academics, so a very enjoyable conversation that ranged from solar sails to Second Life.

The Martian Museum itself is a neat concept from which to explore contemporary art.  Its starting point is that some people find contemporary art as incomprehensible as extraterrestrial communication.  With this irreverent device, the exhibition playfully juxtaposes more than 100 works by artists including Bruce Nauman, Joseph Beuys, Thomas Hirschorn, Mona Hatoum, Damien Hirst, Joseph Beuys, Maurizio Cattelan, Jenny Holzer and Susan Hiller.

Nicola Triscott, Director

Image: Zero Genie, Ansuman Biswas & Jem Finer, 2001

Biological Art in India

Photo: Professor Emeritus Obaid Siddiqui, founder of India's National Centre for Biological Science welcomes SymbioticA's Oron Catts. Pictured right, Yashas Shetty, NCBS artist in residence.

The first Indian biological art masterclass and workshop has kicked off at the labs of NCBS today. Oron Catts went round the assorted participants and asked them what they wanted from the week. Bangalore artist Kiran Subbaiah stated that he wanted to create a clone of himself. This has not been promised immediately. Other participants include artists and a number of NCBS scientists, including Mukkund Thattai, who has been instrumental, along with artist Yashas Shetty in making the event happen. The Hindu, India's leading daily, announced the workshop this morning here. Currently all the participants are roaming NCBS's extensive campus collecting bacteria to be analysed in the well appointed lab given to us by NCBS. Oron Catts and his scientific collaborator, Greg Cozens have been very impressed by the immense support given by the Institution and are very pleased with the facilities and specimens provided - including 2 GFP mice (deceased). Participants in the workshop and master class include: Yashas Shetty, Gabriel Harp, Zackery Denfeld, Ayisha Abraham, Rustam Vania, Ravindra Gutta, US Ramesh U S, Dharmang Prajapati, Prayas Abhinav, Kiran Subbaiah, Rohini Devasher, Sylvia Nagl, Siraj Izhar, Vivek Vilasini, Ria Rajan, Avinash Deshmukh and Dhanyaa Deofavente. There is also live blogging on the CEMA website.

Rob La Frenais, Curator