In April 2006 The Open Eye Club curated their 3rd event and as part of Glasgow International.
"…we note that those areas of activity previously known as culture are being colonized by political agendas that currently lack other venues for their articulation."
JJ Charlesworth Twin Towers: The Strange Disappearance of Art and Politics. April 02.
Living within a post politically correct society, the previous proliferation of political correctness in visual, verbal and written language has reached the point of irony. The result is a reaction to the terminologies and boundaries of what is (or is not) PC. The question is whether we believe art has to be morally responsible in
order to be valid.
Totally PC is a selection of works by artists that negotiate the space between the intention and the actuality of ‘Political Correctness’ in all its manifestations.
Part One
Vancouver based artist Alex Morrison’s video
Homewrecker (2001) 1’54” presents a staged
spectacle of a skateboarder (the artist) engaging
with the interior of an apartment by skating on
all available surfaces. This displaced activity
questions social and domestic authority from
a personal perspective resulting in a subtle shift
from a socially cool activity transformed into a
private ritual.
Exhibitions include the group show Youth of
Today, at Schirn Kunstahalle, Frankfurt (2006)
and solo exhibition Free Room at the
Contemporary Art Gallery Vancouver (2004).
Morrison is represented by Catriona Jefferies
Gallery, Vancouver
Radical Software Group (RSG) is an ensemble of programmers and artists led by Alex Galloway, assistant professor in the Department of Culture and Communication at NYU. Named after the seminal 1970’s magazine ‘Radical Software’ RSG have previously exhibited in P.S.1 and the New Museum for Contemporary Art, New York, Transmediale, Berlin and the ICA, London.
The piece RSG – Black – 1 (2005) takes Ridley Scotts film Black Hawk Down (2001) and re-edits the footage removing all scenes of white people save for one brief glimpse of a white soldier. The resulting piece is a 22 min video echoing works such as W.D Griffiths Birth of A Nation (1915).
Ride to Da Club (2002) 5’03” by New York based artist Kalup Linzy presents a humorous lampooning of issues such as race, class and gender. Born in Stuckey, Florida in 1977, Linzy places himself within the video/performances that he constructs. Recent exhibitions include Masquerade: Representation and the Self in Contemporary Art; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Australia (2006) and in 2005 was the recipient of the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation's Space Program in New York. Linzy is represented by Taxter & Spengemann, NYC.
RSG - Black - 1
Part Two
Glasgow based artist Craig Mulholland’s piece MEETING POP (2005) 3’20” is screened as part of Totally PC by The Open Eye Club for the second time. Originally exhibited as an installation at the Project Room Glasgow in This is not a Painting the piece is now being shown in a different format as a widescreen projection. Made in a ‘scratch video’ manner MEETING POP uses clips from Michael Powell’s film ‘Peeping Tom’ (1960) and combines it with cgi animation. Recent Exhibitions include His Life is Full of Miracles Site Gallery, Sheffield and a solo exhibition as part of ‘Art Now Lightbox’ at Tate Britain, London. Mulholland is represented by Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow.
Artist, Writer and Curator Dave Beech has made a new video for the Totally P.C. screening titled Routes from here to Utopia (2006) 7’20”. Beech is interested in concepts of dialogue, social change and unarticulated hopes and fears often addressing these notions via collaborative and commissioning processes. Recent shows include Real Estate: Art in a Changing City ICA, London and PILOT: 2 London.
Glasgow based artist John Beagles and Graham
Ramsay have been collaborating as Beagles
& Ramsay since 1996. For Totally P.C. they
are screening the 2005 video,
SANGUIS GRATIA ARTIS
(BLACK PUDDING SELF-PORTRAIT)
RECIPE
2 pints of fresh blood
(1 pint extracted from Beagles and
1 pint extracted from Ramsay)
1 pint of cream
12oz cooked pearl barley
1lb bacon fat or suet
Intestinal tubes from a pig/cow or hog casing
1 or 2 onions, finely chopped
6oz oats, soaked overnight
Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper to taste
Running time 12”.
Recently Beagles & Ramsay have exhibited in the
international group show 'What Makes You and I
Different' at Tramway, Glasgow.
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