Throughout 2011, to mark their 50th anniversary, Arnolfini will be exploring a year-long theme entitled The Apparatus. This series of ‘experimental blockbusters’ will focus on the conditions of the art world today, particularly its systems of belief and valuation, its role within society, and its relationship to the wider political economy. The Apparatus is about the ‘makings of’ artists, of artworks, of institutions, and of a cultural infrastructure.
COSIMA VON BONIN’S BONE IDLE
FOR ARNOLFINI’S SLOTH SECTION,
LOOP # 02 OF THE LAZY SUSAN SERIES,
A ROTATING EXHIBITION 2010 – 2011
THREE, FOUR, ONE, TWO
19 February–25 April 2011
Arnolfini presents the first exhibition in the UK of work by Cosima von Bonin. Combining new and existing works themed around notions of sloth and lethargy, a series of characters convene, including a multi-coloured octopus, a vomiting chick sat on a rocket and some scallops relaxing on a swing; all to a demure dub techno soundtrack by Moritz von Oswald, forming a hallucinogenic menagerie for the fatigued.
Developed in partnership with the Witte de With, Rotterdam; MAMCO, Geneva; and Museum Ludwig, Cologne.
Magical Consciousness
12 May–3 July 2011
Helena Almeida, Rosa Barba, Uta Barth, Angela Bulloch, Mariana Castillo Deball, Ula Dajerling, Matias Faldbakken, Ellen Harvey, John Hilliard, William E. Jones, Onkar Kular & Noam Toran, David Maljkovic, Melik Ohanian, Trevor Paglen, Peter Peri, Rosângela Rennó and Mungo Thomson.
Co-curated by Runa Islam in collaboration with Arnolfini
Magical Consciousness is about considering when images are no longer enough. It is a group exhibition developed with artist Runa Islam that looks for the potential that comes out of denying or obscuring images. Based around some of Islam’s research interests into perception, the act of looking and reflexive forms of lens-based representation, this exhibition considers the possibility of seeing yourself seeing things differently. Magical Consciousness is titled in reference to the work of philosopher Vilém Flusser, and is also the title of a recent film by Islam.
The Sea Wall
Haegue Yang with Felix Gonzalez-Torres
16 July–4 September 2011
The two-person exhibition The Sea Wall, titled after a book by Marguerite Duras, will facilitate a conversation between works by Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Haegue Yang. This dialogue will look to activate their respective practices afresh, drawing on the co-existence of the poetical and political aspects of their work, contextualising them in a contemporary socio-political, as well as artistic discourse.
Museum Show
24 September–20 November 2011
Including: Danger Museum, Davis Lisboa Mini-Museum, Intuitive Galerie,
La Galerie Légitime, MER Paper Kunsthalle, Moon Museum, Museo Aero Solar, Museo Salinas, Museum of American Art, Museum of Conceptual Art, Museum of Contemporary African Art, Museum of Failure, Museum of Franco Besaglia, Museum of Incest, Museum of Learning Things, Museum of Modern Art Syros, Museum of Mott Art inc., Museum of Non-Participation, Museum of Ordure, Museum of Projective Personality Testing, Museum of Revolution, Museum of Safety Gear for Animals, Museum of Television Culture, Palestinian Museum of Natural History and Humankind, Victoria and Alferd Museum…
One of the most curious tendencies in modern and contemporary art has been that of museums created by artists. Museum Show will be a large-scale exhibition of approximately 40 museums—a museum of museums—displaying this comprehensive selection of highly idiosyncratic, semi-fictional institutions. It will be the first exhibition to chart this particular tendency in contemporary art.
Neil Cummings
SELF PORTRAIT: ARNOLFINI
Throughout 2011
Artist Neil Cummings will develop a series of self-portraits of Arnolfini using data from the organisation’s archive. Presented throughout the building, these portraits will expand across the year, weaving together the history of art and Arnolfini, social and financial organisation, technological innovation, as well as future histories that reflect on Arnolfini’s growth from a small commercial gallery above a bookshop, to one of Europe’s most significant contemporary art centres.
Arnolfini, 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol, BS1 4QA, U.K
0044 (0) 117 917 2300
[email protected]
www.arnolfini.org.uk
