Dear Friends,

We will start into the new year with a little splash, or more precisely, with a glimpse into the future.

‘For me my works are almost like what a star is to a constellation. They are points or particulates within a larger story,’ says American artist Trevor Paglen in our current issue mono.kultur #44. And indeed, there are few artists whose work is as deeply embedded in current matters of concern, questioning the impact of technology, economy, military or politics on the human condition. Trevor Paglen likes talking about those larger stories, and we certainly love to listen.

So please join us for an evening of conversation between Trevor Paglen and Krist Gruijthuijsen, director of the venerable KW Institute for Contemporary Art, discussing Paglen’s latest cycle of works and research into the hidden worlds of machine vision. For almost ten years, Paglen has been studying computer recognition programs and how machines are learning to ’see’, and how these developments interact with our daily lives. His research has led to a new body of what he calls ‘invisible images’, generated entirely by Artifical Intelligence systems – but of course, those are only particulates within a larger story.

As ever, we look forward to seeing you there.
mono.kultur

Join the event on Facebook

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mono.klub #52
TREVOR PAGLEN

In Conversation with Krist Gruijthuijsen

Celebrating
mono.kultur #44
Trevor Paglen:
The Edge of Tomorrow

16. January 2017 / 19h30

KW Institute for Contemporary Art
Auguststraße 69
10117 Berlin

www.kw-berlin.de
www.paglen.com
www.mono-kultur.com

Keep a Secret by George Clanton (formerly Mirror Kisses) never stops to just please but pleasures. Lush vaporwave-ish synths and whistles frame Clanton’s decidedly sad-boy wails, and it works without sounding too retro. Here’s to velvety electropop you can dream to.

Terre Thaemlitz has commented on the changes to Japan’s controversial Fuueihou law via a statement on her website. The post responds to the “Declaration On the Future Of Japan’s Club Culture”, signed by 40 Japanese DJs on the same day that the 67-year-old law was officially changed by the Japanese government. She argues that it has “no purpose other than to comfort members of those reactionary political forces that have historically suppressed Japan’s club cultures,” and goes so far as to “pledge the future of Japan’s club cultures to the service of conservative social ideals.” She adds that “the larger issue at hand is not simply the ‘right to dance’, but the policing of our bodies and their movements”. The law was passed in 1948 in the post-war years to combat the lawlessness found in most dancing establishments. You can read the piece in full on her website Comatonse.

You can read an in-depth conversation with Thaemlitz on politics within the context of club culture in our current issue!

Here’s why those Californian canvas shoes seemed so strangely appealing all these years, strangely appealing even to those who might have never touched Canadian maple in their sorry lives. Thanks, Greg Hunt.

Photography: The Long Lines by Spencer Harding

It’s coming for all of us, that 365-day weekend (see video below), but if you’re a fashion photographer and the kids decide to follow Daria’s lead (again), you can pretty much put your feet up now and take it easy.

Although his oeuvre spans little more than 15 years, British artist Mark Leckey (born in 1964) is already considered a reference for a young generation of artists. After his studies he withdrew from the art world for nearly a decade. In 1999, with the video Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore, compiled from found footage, he found his way back to art. This ode to British dance culture from northern soul to rave is considered one of the most iconic works on the intersection of visual art and popular culture – a field of interest that Leckey has addressed in much of his subsequent work. Today, Leckey’s interest lies in the exploration of digital technologies and their impact on the relationships between people, objects, and environments.

The exhibition’s layout at Haus der Kunst is structured according to four chapters: The show opens with autobiographical works – from “Are You Waiting” (1996), a precursor to “Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore”, to “MyAlbum: A Rough-Demo” Video,” (2014-15) a filmed autobiography, which is premiered as a demo version. Mark Says Leckey: “‘MyAlbum’ is a record of all the events in my life during the twentieth century that I feel were significant. It is a memoir from 1954 until 1999.” In the central space, all five of the artist’s “Sound Systems” (2001–12) are presented for the first time as an ensemble. The speaker towers have their origins in mobile discotheques and have been a recurring element in Leckey’s work since the early 2000s. Leckey understands music in general, and his “Sound Systems” in particular, as alternative communication channels. The “Sound Systems” form the exhibition’s control center; they are linked to the other works and rooms in the exhibition through an electronic circuit, and connect them as if they were a quasi-living organism. In the third space the exhibition continues with the installation “GreenScreenRefrigeratorAction” (2010) – a speaking refrigerator that shares its thoughts and living environment with viewers. In the videos and films of the fourth section, “ZooVidTek”, sculptural objects – in the shape of a cat, a rabbit, a duck, and a dog – are brought to life by means of digital slideshows or computer animations. In doing so, Leckey casually illustrates groundbreaking episodes of twentieth-century media history. As in other instances in the exhibition, the titular “as if” also defines these works: The (filmed) objects and sculptures that the visitor encounters here are not what they seem to be; they are duplicates and fakes that Leckey treats as if they were the real thing.

The starting point of all his works is the attraction that brands and products, as well as images and works of art, exercise upon us. The artist translates this pull into formative and entertaining reflections on our time.

A must see!

Mark Leckey: As If
30.01.-31.05.2015
Haus der Kunst
Prinzregentenstrasse 1
80538 München

New face of Céline is the legendary writer Joan Didion… As a tribute to Didion, Vogue U.S. has re-published one of her essays on self-respect from the year 1961.

“…To such doubtful amulets had my self-respect been pinned, and I faced myself that day with the nonplussed wonder of someone who has come across a vampire and found no garlands of garlic at hand…”

“#throughlookglass” is perfect match between artist and subject. FKA tweaks GoogleGlass’ promise of science fiction’s utopianism into an exhibition of hyperactive media consumption and image shifting–how, no doubt, Glass will actually play out.