In the Slime of a New Bureaucracy by Adriana Alves
Published
We talk about justice in the world, equality. Just take a look at our country and how far we have come. We are the masters of give and take. With the one hand we condemn unbearable working conditions for those who make our cheapest clothes, we generously provide environmental aid here, and social aid there to assist the Global community development, and we assign the Nobel Peace Prize to anyone we like.
With the other hand we make huge profit on disputes and lack of infrastructure in other countries. We are the ones responsible for the technical operations of Guantanao Bay, we sell weapons, and we are investing in environmentally hazardous oil sands extraction.
How can we eradicate this hypocritical existence without getting sweaty? Is there anyone at all that cares enough to actually do something about it?
In the exhibition “In the Slime of a New Bureaucracy” Adriana Alves is working with the notion of radical change, rebellion and revolution versus powerlessness, hopelessness and scarcity. The exhibition title springs from the Kafka quote: “[The flood of] the Revolution evaporats, and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.” On the basis of this statement she questions whether it is possible to believe in a radical change or to hope for a revolutionary upheaval?
The exhibition introduce a revolutionary landscape of barricades and resistance. But unlike this year’s Berlin Biennale it fills no function beyond the landscape itself. On the contrary the exhibition points to the inadequacy of a revolution.
The video work “We are nothing… (let us be everything)” is orchestrating a stir up for a riot. We follow several individuals towards a confrontation. The rebels are equal, there is no leader, and they are not really a group – maybe then they are free?
“In the Slime of a New Bureaucracy” is recreating something that never happened through a corrupted but yet recognizable freedom aesthetic. The mood of the exhibition insists on emphasizing the vain aspect of the idea of revolution, critical thinking and visual arts. Nevertheless, and perhaps in spite of, the repetitive processing of the theme also suggests that there is hope within the hopelessness that the impossibility of emancipation might become possible at a later date.
For this Exibition Adriana has been working at BEK studios.
The exhibition is supported by the Norwegian Arts Council, Bergen City, Hole Glass and AKÅ Palle håndtering.
KNIPSU is an artist-run exhibition space in Bergen, with a focus on exchange, production and network both locally and internationally. It operates within the framework of DIY and KNIPSU likes to navigate through the outer sphere, to Nordic peripheries and interdisciplinary fusions. The gallery space in Bergen is also open to external acts as a result of a desire to be a common meeting place for artistic initiatives in every sense. KNIPSU was established in 2010 by Hilde Jørgensen and Maya Økland with generous support from the Nordic Culture Point, the Municipality of Bergen and the Norwegian Arts Council.
www.knipsu.no