Solo Exhibition | NeuroSpeculative AfroFeminism by Hyphen-Labs
Opening Reception | Friday, January 24 | 7pm-10pm
January 24 – March 22, 2020
Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art | 1, 460 Portage Ave | Winnipeg MB | Canada
Plug In ICA is pleased to present a solo exhibition by the international collective Hyphen-Labs. Redefining the body is central to the imaginations of NeuroSpeculative AfroFeminism, a world where one can reconfigure their neuro-networks as a means of gaining access to an otherworldly realm in which power structures are inter-dimensionally twisted out of existence. This world is a hallucination built on the imagination of revolution; a revolt defined by women of colour who use the prosaic domain of the beauty salon as a rebel underground network for a radically new shared system of communication. NSAF is set in a future United States after the first amendment has been abolished, which ignites a movement of black women to form a band of resistance through a neurological technology that collects “communal memories and knowledge” in defiance of old and new systems of “cognitive tyranny.”
Hyphen-Labs is an international collective working at the intersection of technology, art, and science. Through their multi-disciplinary backgrounds from engineering, architecture, biology, design and coding, they work at the edges of the visual arts and film that push artistic practice into the realm of technological innovation. They exhibited Higher Resolution at the Tate Modern in 2019 presenting a series of actions and events centered around digital platforms. Their work NeuroSpeculative AfroFeminism is an award-winning animation that was created by Carmen Aguilar y Wedge (Hyphen-Lab’s co-founder, structural engineer and artist), Ece Tankal (Hyphen-Lab’s co-founder, designer, and new media artist), and Ashley Baccus-Clark (Hyphen-Lab’s director of research, molecular and cellular biologist, and multidisciplinary artist). NSAF has been exhibited widely, including the Sundance Film Fest, Park City, Utah; Tribeca Film Fest, New York; Primer Speculative Futures Conference, Berlin; and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. It was also included in the block buster group exhibition “Computer Grrls,” which toured through the United States and Europe.
Associated Programming
Opening Event | Artist Talk by Chen Zhe | Thursday, January 23 | 7 pm
Opening Reception | Towards Evenings: 891 Dusks, an Encyclopedia of Psychological Experiences by Chen Zhe | Friday, January 24 | 7pm
Respondent Series | Curator Talk by Alyssa Fearon | Curating and the Diaspora | Thursday, February 6, 2020 | 7PM
Acknowledgments
Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art recognizes we are in the territories of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Dakota, Dene, Métis, and Oji-Cree Nations. Plug In ICA is situated in Treaty 1 territory, the ancestral and traditional homeland of Anishinaabeg peoples. Treaty 1 was signed in 1871, taking this territory from seven local Anishinaabeg First Nations in order to make the land available for settler use and ownership (Referenced from the University of Winnipeg).
Plug In ICA extends gratitude to our artists, generous donors, valued members and dedicated volunteers, with special thanks to our Director’s Circle.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council and Winnipeg Arts Council. We could not operate without their continued financial investment and lobbying efforts.
Plug In ICA relies on community support to remain free and accessible to all, and enables us to continue to present excellent programs. Please consider becoming a member of Plug In ICA and a donor online or by contacting Angela Forget: angela@plugin.org
For more information on this and our other education programs, contact Nasrin Himada at nasrin@plugin.org
For general information please contact: info@plugin.org or call 1.204.942.1043