[UNSUBSCRIBE]
[UNSUBSCRIBE] is a group show comprised of artists who use visual language dominant in the digital realm to engage questions of e-identity formation, and social interactions that play out in our imaginations–despite the absence of a physical presence.
The exhibition considers the internet as a place not void of strategic categorization and intervention. In Will Fredo’s short film TRAMA, he chronicles his own family history. He fuses pivotal scenes from telenovelas and viral moments within social media. He also includes news coverage of tragic events in Guatemalan history like the Indigenous occupation and subsequent burning of the Spanish embassy in 1980. Fredo’s interpretation borders the ironic in its quest to display a complex and traumatic collective history.
Part of the human condition is a waving preoccupation with our own mortality and impermanence. These artists are interested in the internet as ephemeral, and also, its capacity to provide a glimpse into how our contributions are archived and remain beyond our physical existence.
In Joiri Minaya’s process for #dominicanwomengooglesearch she cuts out images from a google search for “Dominican women.” She collages body parts with a cliche’ tropical print resulting in a critique of the tropical imagination and sexualization of Caribbean womxn as exotic, seductive, and consenting without exception. This juxtaposition engages questions of conditioned desire and highlights the tension between our ability to manipulate an algorithm insistent on classifying our online behavior, and the unfolding of our own understanding of shared culture, identity, and gender norms.
In [Unsubscribe] the internet serves as a source shaped by many communities, human and non-human, to present complex perspectives on heteronormativity, economic sense, social engagement, and identity. While we welcome the internet’s limitlessness potential, we insist on remaining critical of its use, dissemination of information, and perception as neutral turf
Artists:
Danny Agnew, Will Fredo, Paloma Izquierdo, Pastiche Lumumba, Joiri Minaya, Kandis WilliamsYear:
2019Date:
June 15, 2019