. 

We move through the world

in ways that are planned yet unplanned.

      —a counterweight decoupled from its troubled empirical rival: the seething mess of American corporate interests swallowing the country’s GDP. This was not simply a metaphorical swallowing: the revolutionary government of Jacobo Árbenz recently had begun a programme for agrarian reform, upending the dominance of the United Fruit Company, the world’s largest banana producer. For some 15-months the MONIAC witnessed this geopolitical standoff before in 1954, a CIA-led coup toppled Árbenz. Soon after the machine disappeared, its fate today remains unknown. As a promissory note betokening a different future, the MONIAC turned into a kind of sunk cost fallacy of the past.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2023 »Chosen Memories, Contemporary Latin American Art from the
     Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Gift and Beyond« Museum of Modern Art, New York

     2017 »Primordial Saber Tararear Proverbiales Sílabas Tonificantes Para Sublevar

     Tecnocracias Pero Seguir Tenazmente Produciendo Sociedades Tántricas –

     Pedro Salazar Torres (Partido Socialista Trabajador)« Regen Projects, Los Angeles

     2012 »Magic Love Trade Objects« Artgenève, Geneva

     2011 »The Global Contemporary, Kunstwelten nach 1989«

     ZKM, Museum für Neue Kunst, Karlsruhe

     2011 »Michael Stevenson« Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

     2008 »History Acts« Göteborgs Konsthall, Göteborg

     2008 »Not Quite How I Remember It« The Power Plant, Toronto

     2007 »The Irresistible Force« Tate Modern, London 

     2007 »Answers to Some Questions about Bananas« Vilma Gold, London

     2006 »c/o The Central Bank of Guatemala« CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts,

     San Francisco

© 2024. Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence

      —a counterweight decoupled from its troubled empirical rival: the seething mess of American corporate interests swallowing the country’s GDP. This was not simply a metaphorical swallowing: the revolutionary government of Jacobo Árbenz recently had begun a programme for agrarian reform, upending the dominance of the United Fruit Company, the world’s largest banana producer. For some 15-months the MONIAC witnessed this geopolitical standoff before in 1954, a CIA-led coup toppled Árbenz. Soon after the machine disappeared, its fate today remains unknown. As a promissory note betokening a different future, the MONIAC turned into a kind of sunk cost fallacy of the past.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2023 »Chosen Memories, Contemporary Latin American Art from the
     Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Gift and Beyond« Museum of Modern Art, New York

     2017 »Primordial Saber Tararear Proverbiales Sílabas Tonificantes Para Sublevar

     Tecnocracias Pero Seguir Tenazmente Produciendo Sociedades Tántricas –

     Pedro Salazar Torres (Partido Socialista Trabajador)« Regen Projects, Los Angeles

     2012 »Magic Love Trade Objects« Artgenève, Geneva

     2011 »The Global Contemporary, Kunstwelten nach 1989«

     ZKM, Museum für Neue Kunst, Karlsruhe

     2011 »Michael Stevenson« Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

     2008 »History Acts« Göteborgs Konsthall, Göteborg

     2008 »Not Quite How I Remember It« The Power Plant, Toronto

     2007 »The Irresistible Force« Tate Modern, London 

     2007 »Answers to Some Questions about Bananas« Vilma Gold, London

     2006 »c/o The Central Bank of Guatemala« CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts,

     San Francisco

© 2024. Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence

     Think of it as Gaming the System in a transcendental sense: lots of rules, mercy as a liability, zero sum. To counter these spatial possessions, the rules of common property law are applied. Curiously, the demonic hierarchies comply. 

     The ramshackle assemblage that composes this instruction appears to be little more than an aircraft tyre, an electric piano stand, and an in-flight blanket. But those who have knowledge will see more. It may well pass as a wishing well, but wishes run in multiple directions. It is a well that foments its own rules, order, and worldview.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2023 »Humans & Demons« steirischerherbst'23, Graz

     2021 »Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief« KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin

     2019 »Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183« MUMA, Melbourne

     2018 »SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement« 21st Biennale of Sydney, Sydney

     2017 »Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183« Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland

     Think of it as Gaming the System in a transcendental sense: lots of rules, mercy as a liability, zero sum. To counter these spatial possessions, the rules of common property law are applied. Curiously, the demonic hierarchies comply. 

     The ramshackle assemblage that composes this instruction appears to be little more than an aircraft tyre, an electric piano stand, and an in-flight blanket. But those who have knowledge will see more. It may well pass as a wishing well, but wishes run in multiple directions. It is a well that foments its own rules, order, and worldview.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2023 »Humans & Demons« steirischerherbst'23, Graz

     2021 »Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief« KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin

     2019 »Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183« MUMA, Melbourne

     2018 »SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement« 21st Biennale of Sydney, Sydney

     2017 »Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183« Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland

     Volume II provides another path and the navigation for the broader Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief exhibition; from the Volume’s contents page the full project can be reviewed and then traversed accordingly.

     CONTENTS:

     Michael Stevenson

     Profiles in Serine Velocity

     Book II: Kayfabe Logic

     (Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief)

        »Preface«       
        »Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183, Michael Stevenson (photo documentation)«       
        »Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief, Michael Stevenson«       
        »Kayfabe Logic, Anna Parlane (essay)«      
        »Appendix, Michael Stevenson (ephemera material)«       
        »Schund, Heike Geißler (fiction)«      

     DESCRIPTION:

     248mm x 319mm, 144 pages, 32-page colour section

     DESIGN: Will Holder

     Published jointly by KW Institute for Contemporary Art and Sternberg Press, Berlin, 2021

     ISBN: 978-3-95679-615-9

     Volume II provides another path and the navigation for the broader Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief exhibition; from the Volume’s contents page the full project can be reviewed and then traversed accordingly.

     CONTENTS:

     Michael Stevenson

     Profiles in Serine Velocity

     Book II: Kayfabe Logic

     (Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief)

        »Preface«       
        »Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183, Michael Stevenson (photo documentation)«       
        »Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief, Michael Stevenson«       
        »Kayfabe Logic, Anna Parlane (essay)«      
        »Appendix, Michael Stevenson (ephemera material)«       
        »Schund, Heike Geißler (fiction)«      

     DESCRIPTION:

     248mm x 319mm, 144 pages, 32-page colour section

     DESIGN: Will Holder

     Published jointly by KW Institute for Contemporary Art and Sternberg Press, Berlin, 2021

     ISBN: 978-3-95679-615-9

     Outbound and inbound legs share the same time coordinates and flight paths. At some point mid-flight they pass through each other seamlessly. Predestined, uncanny, and foreboding, yet entirely without material consequence, each departure continues on to become the next successful arrival ...

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2016 »Signs & Wonders« Carl Freedman Gallery, London 

     2016 »Signs & Wonders« Midway Contemporary Art, Minneapolis 

     2015 »Signs & Wonders« Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen 

     Outbound and inbound legs share the same time coordinates and flight paths. At some point mid-flight they pass through each other seamlessly. Predestined, uncanny, and foreboding, yet entirely without material consequence, each departure continues on to become the next successful arrival ...

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2016 »Signs & Wonders« Carl Freedman Gallery, London 

     2016 »Signs & Wonders« Midway Contemporary Art, Minneapolis 

     2015 »Signs & Wonders« Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen 

     At Portikus the equivalent inaccessible space is the attic, which becomes projectionist’s booth-cum-cockpit, and locus of perceptual protraction. Here a single-engine aircraft, the Aleph-1, is assembled, and positioned. The plane is a replica of one once owned by the avaitor, mathematician, playwright, and professional bodyguard José de Jésus Martínez. His fascination for the mathematician Georg Cantor's Aleph series (ℵ)—a ground-breaking formula to define an infinite hierarchy of infinities—lead to a perculiar naming system for his flying machines: Aleph(0), Aleph(1)... Aleph(∞).

     In the attic shooting and projecting, take-off and landing, are simultaneous. A dynamic cinematic continuum is composed; a single yet multidirectional event occurs, and, in this way, processes and temporalities are stretched and diffracted. End and Beginning have no fixed location; filmic notions of time, including duration, pacing, and frame count, are recalibrated towards the infinite. Aleph-1 ... a tiny speck in an uncountable blue.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2012 »A Life of Crudity, Vulgarity, and Blindness« Portikus, Frankfurt 

     At Portikus the equivalent inaccessible space is the attic, which becomes projectionist’s booth-cum-cockpit, and locus of perceptual protraction. Here a single-engine aircraft, the Aleph-1, is assembled, and positioned. The plane is a replica of one once owned by the avaitor, mathematician, playwright, and professional bodyguard José de Jésus Martínez. His fascination for the mathematician Georg Cantor's Aleph series (ℵ)—a ground-breaking formula to define an infinite hierarchy of infinities—lead to a perculiar naming system for his flying machines: Aleph(0), Aleph(1)... Aleph(∞).

     In the attic shooting and projecting, take-off and landing, are simultaneous. A dynamic cinematic continuum is composed; a single yet multidirectional event occurs, and, in this way, processes and temporalities are stretched and diffracted. End and Beginning have no fixed location; filmic notions of time, including duration, pacing, and frame count, are recalibrated towards the infinite. Aleph-1 ... a tiny speck in an uncountable blue.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2012 »A Life of Crudity, Vulgarity, and Blindness« Portikus, Frankfurt 

     A lot has changed, since 1973 oil has peaked in price, increasing ten-fold and, with it a new client-class awash in petrodollars. The effects are everywhere: inflation and stagnation (both at the same time in the US) amidst fortunes and bribes and flattery and, palace invitations to New York’s art world. New wealth creates illusions, excess, and contemporary art collections – in the oddest of places. A purpose-built art palace is erected in Tehran and Tony Shafrazi enters the fray as it’s consultant. Western facing, European, it epitomises the Shah’s vision for a modern state.

     Beyond the looted gallery, above the city, the palace lights still burn. It will take a further 78 days until they finally burn out.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2011 »Michael Stevenson« Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

     2005 »Art of the Eighties and Seventies« Städtisches Museum Abteiberg,

     Mönchengladbach 

     2005 »The Smiles are not Smiles« Vilma Gold, London 

     A lot has changed, since 1973 oil has peaked in price, increasing ten-fold and, with it a new client-class awash in petrodollars. The effects are everywhere: inflation and stagnation (both at the same time in the US) amidst fortunes and bribes and flattery and, palace invitations to New York’s art world. New wealth creates illusions, excess, and contemporary art collections – in the oddest of places. A purpose-built art palace is erected in Tehran and Tony Shafrazi enters the fray as it’s consultant. Western facing, European, it epitomises the Shah’s vision for a modern state.

     Beyond the looted gallery, above the city, the palace lights still burn. It will take a further 78 days until they finally burn out.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2011 »Michael Stevenson« Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

     2005 »Art of the Eighties and Seventies« Städtisches Museum Abteiberg,

     Mönchengladbach 

     2005 »The Smiles are not Smiles« Vilma Gold, London 

     Presented as next-generation, augmented, re-engineered, and without appendages, it is a chair no longer constrained by the limitations of human physiology. Full morphological freedom for the executive subject. No seat nor arm rest, all attention is directed toward the expansive back, a security shield for ideation, reinforced protection for the head, and, therefore, the mind of a singular entity. There may be many seats, but there is one only throne, no more. Onward.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2021 »Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief« KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin

     2019 »Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183« MUMA, Melbourne

     2018 »SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement« 21st Biennale of Sydney, Sydney

     2017 »Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183« Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland

     Presented as next-generation, augmented, re-engineered, and without appendages, it is a chair no longer constrained by the limitations of human physiology. Full morphological freedom for the executive subject. No seat nor arm rest, all attention is directed toward the expansive back, a security shield for ideation, reinforced protection for the head, and, therefore, the mind of a singular entity. There may be many seats, but there is one only throne, no more. Onward.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2021 »Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief« KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin

     2019 »Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183« MUMA, Melbourne

     2018 »SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement« 21st Biennale of Sydney, Sydney

     2017 »Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183« Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland

      —a counterweight decoupled from its troubled empirical rival: the seething mess of American corporate interests swallowing the country’s GDP. This was not simply a metaphorical swallowing: the revolutionary government of Jacobo Árbenz recently had begun a programme for agrarian reform, upending the dominance of the United Fruit Company, the world’s largest banana producer. For some 15-months the MONIAC witnessed this geopolitical standoff before in 1954, a CIA-led coup toppled Árbenz. Soon after the machine disappeared, its fate today remains unknown. As a promissory note betokening a different future, the MONIAC turned into a kind of sunk cost fallacy of the past.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2023 »Chosen Memories, Contemporary Latin American Art from the
     Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Gift and Beyond« Museum of Modern Art, New York

     2017 »Primordial Saber Tararear Proverbiales Sílabas Tonificantes Para Sublevar

     Tecnocracias Pero Seguir Tenazmente Produciendo Sociedades Tántricas –

     Pedro Salazar Torres (Partido Socialista Trabajador)« Regen Projects, Los Angeles

     2012 »Magic Love Trade Objects« Artgenève, Geneva

     2011 »The Global Contemporary, Kunstwelten nach 1989«

     ZKM, Museum für Neue Kunst, Karlsruhe

     2011 »Michael Stevenson« Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

     2008 »History Acts« Göteborgs Konsthall, Göteborg

     2008 »Not Quite How I Remember It« The Power Plant, Toronto

     2007 »The Irresistible Force« Tate Modern, London 

     2007 »Answers to Some Questions about Bananas« Vilma Gold, London

     2006 »c/o The Central Bank of Guatemala« CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts,

     San Francisco

      —a counterweight decoupled from its troubled empirical rival: the seething mess of American corporate interests swallowing the country’s GDP. This was not simply a metaphorical swallowing: the revolutionary government of Jacobo Árbenz recently had begun a programme for agrarian reform, upending the dominance of the United Fruit Company, the world’s largest banana producer. For some 15-months the MONIAC witnessed this geopolitical standoff before in 1954, a CIA-led coup toppled Árbenz. Soon after the machine disappeared, its fate today remains unknown. As a promissory note betokening a different future, the MONIAC turned into a kind of sunk cost fallacy of the past.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2023 »Chosen Memories, Contemporary Latin American Art from the
     Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Gift and Beyond« Museum of Modern Art, New York

     2017 »Primordial Saber Tararear Proverbiales Sílabas Tonificantes Para Sublevar

     Tecnocracias Pero Seguir Tenazmente Produciendo Sociedades Tántricas –

     Pedro Salazar Torres (Partido Socialista Trabajador)« Regen Projects, Los Angeles

     2012 »Magic Love Trade Objects« Artgenève, Geneva

     2011 »The Global Contemporary, Kunstwelten nach 1989«

     ZKM, Museum für Neue Kunst, Karlsruhe

     2011 »Michael Stevenson« Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

     2008 »History Acts« Göteborgs Konsthall, Göteborg

     2008 »Not Quite How I Remember It« The Power Plant, Toronto

     2007 »The Irresistible Force« Tate Modern, London 

     2007 »Answers to Some Questions about Bananas« Vilma Gold, London

     2006 »c/o The Central Bank of Guatemala« CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts,

     San Francisco

     Fellow travellers, and entire EA households, are playing the same imaginary game. How close to Crazy Town can you venture and still maintain logical coherence? Given the logistics, things definitely can go awry.

     Outside, the landscape becomes unrecognisable. Moments of self-reflection and doubt fill the vast voids of time between stops. Some travellers vow to stay on for one last stop, some exit amidst an anxious forgetful muddle. Others go mad. Welcome all and sundry, to Crazy Town, where the population is always n+1. In EA lore only ghosts of the misfortunate ride this phantom service to the end of the line.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2024 »Mind's Eye« Fine Arts, Sydney

     Fellow travellers, and entire EA households, are playing the same imaginary game. How close to Crazy Town can you venture and still maintain logical coherence? Given the logistics, things definitely can go awry.

     Outside, the landscape becomes unrecognisable. Moments of self-reflection and doubt fill the vast voids of time between stops. Some travellers vow to stay on for one last stop, some exit amidst an anxious forgetful muddle. Others go mad. Welcome all and sundry, to Crazy Town, where the population is always n+1. In EA lore only ghosts of the misfortunate ride this phantom service to the end of the line.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2024 »Mind's Eye« Fine Arts, Sydney

     Malleable, human-sized, to sit in these soft furnishings is to re-make them to your own likeness. Now dormant, the fund’s slogans slouch on the floor in 5 menu instalments. Relics peppered with glittering vagueness from an age of low interest rates and a pandemic-era zombie state enabling dreams to incubate beyond the sordid realities of day-to-day profit and loss. Whether these ideas sit comfortably with the viewer, the viewer can nevertheless sit comfortably within them. Still, the invitation requires a smidgeon of trust. Your body must forego instincts and fall ... in a controlled manner, before material mechanics stabilise the landing and place you in a state of soft repose. In the process the surrounding words re-shape, and their stories re-form.

     IN EXHIBITION:

.    2024 »Mind's Eye« Fine Arts, Sydney

     2023 »Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop: seating proposals for a Grantmaker«

     Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland

     Malleable, human-sized, to sit in these soft furnishings is to re-make them to your own likeness. Now dormant, the fund’s slogans slouch on the floor in 5 menu instalments. Relics peppered with glittering vagueness from an age of low interest rates and a pandemic-era zombie state enabling dreams to incubate beyond the sordid realities of day-to-day profit and loss. Whether these ideas sit comfortably with the viewer, the viewer can nevertheless sit comfortably within them. Still, the invitation requires a smidgeon of trust. Your body must forego instincts and fall ... in a controlled manner, before material mechanics stabilise the landing and place you in a state of soft repose. In the process the surrounding words re-shape, and their stories re-form.

     IN EXHIBITION:

.    2024 »Mind's Eye« Fine Arts, Sydney

     2023 »Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop: seating proposals for a Grantmaker«

     Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2023 »Humans & Demons«, steirischerherbst'23, Graz

     2021 »Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief«, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin

     2020 »Michael Stevenson« Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2023 »Humans & Demons«, steirischerherbst'23, Graz

     2021 »Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief«, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin

     2020 »Michael Stevenson« Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam

     Drum Shield… is realised partially in cosplay: in 2012 the pro-wrestling legend Hulk Hogan/Terry Bollea launched an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against Gawker after they published a video of him in flagrante delicto with the spouse of Bubba the Lovesponge. Monitoring these developments, the billionaire tech serial entrepreneur Peter Thiel glimpsed an endgame ... He stepped in as a clandestine benefactor of the Hogan Defence Team, leaving the Hulkster an unwitting tech industry proxy. In the wake of the Hogan Case, Gawker filed for bankruptcy in 2016, peace was restored to the Valley, and an important memo was received by the aspiring gadflys of the new media.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2021 »The Earth Is Flat Again« Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź

     2020 »Michael Stevenson, a solo exhibition« Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam

     2020 »Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief« Fine Arts, Sydney

     Drum Shield… is realised partially in cosplay: in 2012 the pro-wrestling legend Hulk Hogan/Terry Bollea launched an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against Gawker after they published a video of him in flagrante delicto with the spouse of Bubba the Lovesponge. Monitoring these developments, the billionaire tech serial entrepreneur Peter Thiel glimpsed an endgame ... He stepped in as a clandestine benefactor of the Hogan Defence Team, leaving the Hulkster an unwitting tech industry proxy. In the wake of the Hogan Case, Gawker filed for bankruptcy in 2016, peace was restored to the Valley, and an important memo was received by the aspiring gadflys of the new media.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2021 »The Earth Is Flat Again« Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź

     2020 »Michael Stevenson, a solo exhibition« Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam

     2020 »Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief« Fine Arts, Sydney

     Now rendered as archaeology, a mud brick conning tower and rice paddy appear beside an ongoing search on the uppermost deck for a pocket-sized apartment. 15-square metres, with views from the bridge … Hollein’s final offer to appease the Count and his demands for unfettered access to a public museum. Atop the tower, the citizens of Mönchenbladbach can be observed in the garden below.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2005 »Art of the Eighties and Seventies« Städtisches Museum Abteiberg,

     Mönchengladbach

     Now rendered as archaeology, a mud brick conning tower and rice paddy appear beside an ongoing search on the uppermost deck for a pocket-sized apartment. 15-square metres, with views from the bridge … Hollein’s final offer to appease the Count and his demands for unfettered access to a public museum. Atop the tower, the citizens of Mönchenbladbach can be observed in the garden below.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2005 »Art of the Eighties and Seventies« Städtisches Museum Abteiberg,

     Mönchengladbach

     The group, also known as Catch the Fire, has made peace with their immediate environment: their logo features flames licking at the word ‘Airport.’ Their fixation with fire and its naming rights dates back to Pentecost, though visible flames make them somewhat uneasy denizens of a hub for mass air travel. 

     Back at air traffic control conventional airborne activity takes precedence: prevent collisions, enforce separation between aerial bodies, organise, and expedite the flow of traffic ...

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2016 »Transparency Masters« Art Basel, Basel

     The group, also known as Catch the Fire, has made peace with their immediate environment: their logo features flames licking at the word ‘Airport.’ Their fixation with fire and its naming rights dates back to Pentecost, though visible flames make them somewhat uneasy denizens of a hub for mass air travel. 

     Back at air traffic control conventional airborne activity takes precedence: prevent collisions, enforce separation between aerial bodies, organise, and expedite the flow of traffic ...

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2016 »Transparency Masters« Art Basel, Basel

I’ve seen the shoals of biography fishes,

each one a life story,

scintillate under heaving ocean waters.

And as our charitable trio nears the end, they scroll ... to the closing remarks:  

Please,

help us come into existence!

Please, join us!

Whether this surpassing possibility becomes a reality is

something you can influence.

If your empathy can perceive

at least the outlines of the vision I am describing,

then I believe your ingenuity will find a way to make it real.

All together now: Make. It. Real!

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2024 »Mind's Eye« Fine Arts, Sydney

I’ve seen the shoals of biography fishes,

each one a life story,

scintillate under heaving ocean waters.

And as our charitable trio nears the end, they scroll ... to the closing remarks:  

Please,

help us come into existence!

Please, join us!

Whether this surpassing possibility becomes a reality is

something you can influence.

If your empathy can perceive

at least the outlines of the vision I am describing,

then I believe your ingenuity will find a way to make it real.

All together now: Make. It. Real!

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2024 »Mind's Eye« Fine Arts, Sydney

Preface

Thomas Gladwin (1964) has written a brilliant article contrasting the method by which the Trukese navigate the open sea, with that by which Europeans navigate. He points out that the European navigator begins with a plan-a course-which he has charted according to certain universal principles, and he carries out his voyage by relating his every move to that plan. His effort throughout his voyage is directed to remaining 'on course.' If unexpected events occur, he must first alter the plan, then respond accordingly. The Trukese navigator begins with an objective rather than a plan. He sets off toward the objective and responds to conditions as they arise in an ad hoc fashion. He utilizes information provided by the wind, the waves, the tide and current, the fauna, the stars, the clouds, the sound of the water on the side of the boat, and he steers accordingly. His effort is directed to doing whatever is necessary to reach the objective. If asked, he can point to his objective at any moment, but he cannot describe his course (Gerald Berreman 1966).

from Plans and Situated Action: The problem of human-machine communication 

Lucy Suchman 1985

Desktop and phone versions of michaelstevenson.info

vary according to their navigational system

this one’s a journey—­­­–the other’s a list

(or contempt) are portioned out accordingly to a self-selecting audience. The language born in this crucible will be as vapid as it will be participatory, compressing identities into slogans dressed as mantras, then to humans dressed as slogans, walking billboards and their posterchildren. “Will we eat baby food forever?”  

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2022 »The Cheap Heat« Fine Arts, Sydney

(or contempt) are portioned out accordingly to a self-selecting audience. The language born in this crucible will be as vapid as it will be participatory, compressing identities into slogans dressed as mantras, then to humans dressed as slogans, walking billboards and their posterchildren. “Will we eat baby food forever?”  

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2022 »The Cheap Heat« Fine Arts, Sydney

     Until now, these courses have remained unrelated. In Serene Velocity…, they become complimentary continuing education curri­cula connected thematically, but also physically by means of a covered walkway between the classrooms. This academic path gives title to the project and takes its name from Ernie Gehr's 1970 film Serene Velocity, which is set in a hallway that appears to be infinitely extended across ascending bounds.

     Both programmes are accelerators for a future stake: eschatology is baked-in (for the company, the believer or for humanity) and, when the endgame arrives, its in flashes, moments, leaps and glitches.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2023 »Humans & Demons« steirischerherbst'23, Graz

     2021 »Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief« KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin

     2019 »Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183« MUMA, Melbourne

     2018 »SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement« 21st Biennale of Sydney, Sydney

     2017 »Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183« Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland

     Until now, these courses have remained unrelated. In Serene Velocity…, they become complimentary continuing education curri­cula connected thematically, but also physically by means of a covered walkway between the classrooms. This academic path gives title to the project and takes its name from Ernie Gehr's 1970 film Serene Velocity, which is set in a hallway that appears to be infinitely extended across ascending bounds.

     Both programmes are accelerators for a future stake: eschatology is baked-in (for the company, the believer or for humanity) and, when the endgame arrives, its in flashes, moments, leaps and glitches.

     IN EXHIBITION:

     2023 »Humans & Demons« steirischerherbst'23, Graz

     2021 »Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief« KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin

     2019 »Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183« MUMA, Melbourne

     2018 »SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement« 21st Biennale of Sydney, Sydney

     2017 »Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183« Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland