Screening + Performance Lectures: Pin It Down

Sat 2 Sept 4-6pm // With Chris Alton, Naomi Fitzsimmons, Katherine Midgley, Jasleen Kaur

A series of screenings and performance lectures by ‘You’re Surrounded by Me’ exhibiting artists, Chris Alton, Naomi Fitzsimmons, Katherine Midgley and Jasleen Kaur, followed by a Q&A.

Alton will give a performance lecture on the symbolic genealogy of the trident, from antiquity to present. Stopping off at ancient gods, nuclear arsenals and Central American fiduciaries, the presentation will trace the many manifestations of the trident as a symbol of colonial intent.

Fitzsimmons’ short film documents the artist’s attempt to find and connect with a stock image model, referred to online as ‘Ariane’. Whilst overexposed and hyper-visible ‘Ariane’ is simultaneously anonymous and ultimately invisible. Casting herself in the role of protagonist ‘Naomi’ performs and adopts various strategies in her quest for intimacy with ‘Ariane’. In doing so, she explores the status of images in contemporary visual culture and the relationship they have with representation, power, exploitation and identity.

Having just returned from the Sydney headquarters of property developer Lendlease, Midgley will present a new performance lecture regarding the long-term antagonist of her practice. In Midgley’s whimsical performances and films, she frequently adopts a naïve, inquisitive persona to explore and question the activities of Lendlease, a company who were recently awarded a £40 million construction contract in Croydon’s Ruskin Square.

YOOROP presents a vision of Europe, through the lens of popular Indian cinema. Kaur’s montage of appropriated footage raises questions regarding the representation of cultures, by imagining a future in which the history of the West is written by the East.

// IMAGES

Naomi Fitzsimmons, Still from Ariane, HD Film, 2017

Naomi Fitzsimmons, Still from Ariane, HD Film, 2017

Chris Alton, Image from What Mortals Henceforth Shall Our Power Adore?, Performance lecture, 2016-17

Jasleen Kaur, Still from YOOROP, Film, 2017