83.82 x 115.57 x 10.16 cm.
Agnieszka Kurant’s Placebo VIII brings together a series of imaginary pharmaceuticals invented within the fictional narratives of literature and film. Displayed in a custom cabinet, these imaginary drugs are materialized as physical objects, packaged in meticulously designed boxes, listing dosage and description information along with references to the fictional source. Each box is filled with placebo tablets. The project is suggestive of the ways that fiction and popular culture affects how we experience reality. Placebos, or pills without active ingredients, can have powerful effects, and news scientific studies show that placebos can be used to treat some illnesses. For example, in some countries they are used by doctors to treat chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Metaphorically, the work suggests the power of belief, and draws an association with the symbolic field of art. The work might also be seen as an oblique reference to and comment on the often un-critical culture of over-the-counter prescription drug-use (and abuse) in the US.
Conceptual interdisciplinary artist, Agnieszka Kurant explores how complex social, economic and cultural systems can operate in ways that confuse distinctions between fiction and reality or nature and culture. She investigates “the economy of the invisible,” in which immaterial and imaginary entities, fictions, phantoms and emergent processes influence political and economic systems. Kurant probes the “unknown unknowns” of knowledge and the speculations and exploits of capitalism by integrating elements of science and philosophy, and analyzing certain phenomena—collective intelligence, emergence, virtual capital, immaterial and digital labor, evolution of memes, civilizations and social movements, artificial societies, energy circuits and the editing process—as political acts. She explores the hybrid and shifting status of objects in relation to value, aura, authorship, production and circulation. Many of her works emulate nature and behave like living organisms, self-organized complex systems or bachelor machines.
During her research on primitive currencies and cultural cannibalism, Cuevas came across the Donald Duck comic book issue “The Stone Money Mystery,” where Donald goes on a quest to find missing museum objects...
Carlo Scarpa Venini vase from thrift store sold for $100K | Wallpaper Detail of the ‘Pennellate’ vase, model 3664, Venini, Italy (c.1947), left, and its barely visible identification, right (Image credit: Courtesy Wright) By Adrian Madlener published 17 December 2023 We’ve all seen an episode of Antiques Roadshow in which someone’s dusty attic find is appraised for much higher than first expected...
Indra’s net: Imagining new forms of interconnection , A4 x KADIST Video Library Screening Amapola Prada, Enrique Ramírez, Fiamma Montezemolo, Guan Xiao, Jane Jin Kaisen & Guston Sondin-Kung, Kiran Subbaiah, Moe Satt, Nguyen Trinh Thi, and Randa Maddah In Buddhist philosophy, before the heavenly temple of the god Indra, there is a protective net made up of many beads, called Indra’s net...
Art Basel Arrives in Miami with a New Structure and Hints about Future – ARTnews.com Skip to main content By Daniel Cassady Plus Icon Daniel Cassady Senior Writer, ARTnews View All December 6, 2023 9:29am MIAMI, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 30: An exterior view of Miami Beach Convention Center during Art Basel Miami Beach on November 30, 2021 in Miami, Florida...
Scenic Routes at the 17th Jogja Biennale – Artforum Read Next: ARGENTINIAN PRESIDENT JAVIER MILEI SHUTTERS MINISTRY OF CULTURE Subscribe Search Icon Search Icon Search for: Search Icon Search for: Follow Us facebook twitter instagram youtube Alerts & Newsletters Email address to subscribe to newsletter...
Fathers #18 and Fathers #27 is part of a series of photographs and videos made in recent years in Gaza...
Thomas’ lenticular text-based works require viewers to shift positions as they view them in order to fully absorb their content...
Neglected middle class may be key to growing stagnant art market Art market Museums & heritage Exhibitions Books Podcasts Columns Technology Adventures with Van Gogh Search Search Art market analysis Neglected middle class may be key to growing stagnant art market The spotlight tends to fall on big spenders, but what of “professional class” buyers, who often feel intimidated by the art world? Scott Reyburn 11 December 2023 Share Injecting new life: initiatives such as Avant Arte and Artist Support Pledge that attract less well-off collectors could revive a flat market Photo: splitov27 Art Basel and UBS recently issued their latest annual Survey of Global Collecting , which analyses the habits and attitudes of more than 2,800 high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) across the world...