Surveil at the Center for Endless Progress
Surveil
Opening Thursday August 19, 6pm
The Center for Endless Progress
Berthelsdorferstr. 10, 12043 Berlin
Surveil is the international debut of two projects created in residence in Leipzig, Knowledge and the Love of Mankind (2010) by Elizabeth White and The Selling of Socialism (2010) by Anne Elizabeth Moore.
Knowledge and the Love of Mankind is an installation of drawings accompanied by an on-site silhouette service. Based on illustrations by Johann Lavater, the drawings document different types of lines, curves, and features. On their own, these simple drawings lack meaning, however in their original context, each detail is significant, suggesting the code for reading inner character on outward physicality, with resulting social implications. During the opening of the exhibition, the artist will offer digital silhouette portraits for two euro each.
The Selling of Socialism (2010), a series of displayed drawings and texts, visually explores political rectitude, reclamation, and ownership through the aura of the American mythological reconstruction of the Berlin Wall. Over the past 20 years, a new system of symbols has emerged on the American landscape, clues to how capitalism infiltrates and subsumes discussions of its resistance. These are presented in ink on vellum alongside their true historical narratives.
At the opening, Moore will perform Offhand Teeth Slosh, a text culled from David Hasselhoff’s personal account of the fall of the Berlin Wall, an act for which he takes credit in his autobiography, Don’t Hassle the Hoff. Three elements of the text have been changed: the “Berlin Wall” has been replaced with “the Twin Towers,” the date “November 9, 1989” has been changed to “September 11, 2001,” And David Hasselhoff has been replaced with Michael Knight’s evil twin from his television program Knight Rider, Garthe Knight. The performance raises questions of how gleefully we celebrate the demise of political systems. This text is accompanied by an original score from Richard Fox.
How hot is that postcard? Liz White made it.
