Jenna Sutela
“NO NO NSE NSE”
Kunsthall Trondheim, Norway
Through August 29, 2020
Can the world be understood in ways more than human? Jenna Sutela’s work has recurrently re-hearsed this hypothesis, exploring rhizomatic forms of machinic and organic intelligence. At once fictional and scientific, “NO NO NSE NSE” devises a psychedelic multiverse articulated in porous language. The ongoing impact of microbiological entities underscores the relevance of Sutela’s proposal, suggesting the relevance of a decentered engagement with our various environments.
Alvaro Urbano
“The Awakening”
La Casa Encendida, Madrid
Through January 10, 2021
Departing from Corrales and Vázquez Molezún’s Hexagon Pavilion for the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958, “The Awakening” examines the building’s current state of abandonment, in Madrid’s Casa de Campo Park, as a contrast to its celebrated past. Smoke, light, vegetation, and metal grid panels are some of the elements of this mesmerizing, nightmarish landscape. The stage-like properties of the immersive installation suggest the aftermath of a world-shattering event, where myriad life forms are free to develop in a collapsed modernist utopia.
“Vaivém/To-and-fro”
CCBB – Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Belo Horizonte
Through October 18, 2020
Currently on display in Belo Horizonte after several previous iterations, “Vaivém” (To-and-fro) expands on PhD research and traces the many discursive layers of the hammock. The encyclopedic exhibition weaves together topics such as Amerindian ancestries, violent slave-based colonization, regional identities, and a critique of modernity, mapping a complex cultural landscape. Such forceful and rigorous deconstruction of normative notions of Brazil have gained renewed urgency in light of the country’s current sociopolitical situation.
