hami bahadori حامی

As artists and curators, we are in the business of production of culture, this activity is placed next to a political and architectural act, namely “production of new walls”. Yet, not all acts of art-making or creation is a precursor of an art-system or art-market which is a necessary part of this problematic. The aim is not to present the art system as the ultimate problem but to remind the artists that certain modes of cultural production would bring about harmful outcomes to certain subjects or communities. The question of “what we are seeing” needs to be pushed back to “what are the conditions that made this presentation possible?”, which in some sense relates to the platforms of cultural production and distribution in relation to power and hegemonic discourses. I have examined the current condition of art-making from an everyday perspective through the works of Wendy Brown on sovereignty, and Edward Said on culture and imperialism.

“[Foucault] started to think about how madness as a category of human identity is produced and reproduced by various rules, systems and procedures which create and separate it from ‘normalcy’. Such systems form what he called ‘the order of discourse’, or the entire conceptual territory on which knowledge is formed and produced. This includes not just what is thought or said but the rules which govern what can be said and what not, what is included as rational and what left out, what is thought of as madness or insubordination and what is seen as sane or socially acceptable.” -Ania Loomba “Kivi’s health had failed completely in 1870. The collapse was accelerated by typhoid and attacks of delirium and in 1871 he was admitted to the New Clinic, from where he was transferred to the Lapinlahti psychiatric hospital. The doctor treating him, A. T. Saelan, diagnosed him as suffering from melancholia resulting from “injured dignity as a writer”. On the basis of the available documents, Kalle Achté concludes that it was a classic case of schizophrenia, triggered by severe states of anxiety” -Hannes Sihvo, Kivi, Aleksis (1834 – 1872)

Safety and Possible Hazards is a short presentation followed by a gallery tour of the Kuvan Kevät 2018 exhibition. The focus of the conversation is on the topic of safety in relation to the artworks and gallery space as a site for displaying art. Elements present in the piece are connected to the notion of work and the architecture of everyday life. The focus of this project is the usually unnoticed structures that facilitate the social reproduction of the everyday. The first part of the project took place during the initial meeting between participating artists and organisers. The Head of Theatre Academy's Theatre, Occupational Health and Safety Manager, Jyri Pulkkinen, was invited to give a lecture during the planning-meeting on 12 January 2018. The public part of the project happens at 13:00 on 9 May 2018. All are welcome to attend the gallery-walk-through led by Pulkkinen, followed by a conversation.

Installation 2014 - Skinny Gallery, Seattle, WA |