The Objects Do Things project appeals to the pleasure we get from engaging with the world of the imagination. It is shaped by the changes that have taken place in the visual arts in the past few years: the appearance of very many narrative and fictional threads and the unstoppable need to tell stories. It also uses the distinctive aesthetic that in popular culture brings to mind children’s theater and television programs. By contrast, the tradition of the puppet theater has deep roots in the history of the European avant-garde and the early days of performance art, especially Bauhaus, Surrealist, and Dada experiments.
This project came about at the point where theater and the visual arts meet, with fictional characters created by artists. Connecting the exhibition’s scenographic quality with live theatrical acts is an important innovation of the project. What happens when the theater in its most traditional form interacts with the art world, and who are the characters of this exhibition? What traits does a character need to possess for the public to want to identify with her? Empathy helps a human community survive, but when do emotions develop towards inanimate objects?
How far can empathy go in the world of things?
Artists include: Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, Geoffrey Farmer, Pierre Huyghe, Christopher Kline, Tomasz Kowalski, Antje Majewski, Paul McCarthy, Shelly Nadashi, Paulina Ołowska, Tony Oursler, Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley, Pedro Reyes, Lindsay Seers, and many others. The exhibition is curated by Joanna Zielińska.
Objects do Things
Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw
26 Feb – 31 Jul, 2016
Image: Object Do Things – Trailer (film still) from CSW Warszawa on Vimeo.