Alserkal to collaborate with Hayward Gallery
Marguerite Humeau. HARRY II (BODY), 2017. Polystyrene, resin, fibreglass, white paint, acrylic parts, sprayed metal stand, water tanks, *raptors* – sourced on an anti-climbing security systems website – cast in artificial human skin, rubber, glass artificial blood-sucking organ, artificial human blood, sound. Stan Narten, JSP Photography. Courtesy the artist and C L E A R I N G New York / Brussels
A computer-animated fox recites quotes from HG Wells’s Time Machine, 20 tonnes of molten rock poured over a pile of broken consumer electronics and a modern-day interpretation of sphinxes that straddle issues of online security, border control and surveillance.
These are just some of the artworks part of Adapt to Survive: Notes from the Future an exhibition currently on show at London's Hayward Gallery HENI Project Space and set to travel to Dubai in November.
Taking its title from the phrase adopted recently by the business sector, Adapt to Survive explores the idea that Darwin’s theory of evolution can serve as a metaphor for a future-facing strategy for survival and growth. In recent years, the phrase ‘adapt to survive’ has been adopted by the entrepreneurial start-ups and professional ‘change- makers’, suggesting a fast-paced form of agency that is antithetical to Darwin’s concept of natural selection.
The artists in Adapt to Survive make educated guesses about our society’s evolution and progression, but equally convey uncertainty and skepticism about our accelerating patterns of growth and consumption
In Marguerite Humeau’s Harry II sculpture, anti-climb ‘raptor’ fencing is cast in artificial human skin; plastic vessels hold artificial blood; and a three-faced winged beast—part predator, part crest—emits a low hum reminiscent of a heartbeat, or remote aerial warfare. It is a sinister portrayal of control and security taken to the extreme.
Andreas Angelidakis. The Walking Building, 2004 - 2006. Video animation, colour, sound, duration 5mins. © Andreas Angelidakis. Courtesy The Breeder, Athens
Andreas Angelidakis’ The Walking Building is a proposal for the contemporary art museum of the future. It is a video work that shows the museum coming alive and crawling like an animal through the streets of Athens. The Butterfly Already Exists in the Caterpillar is part of artist and writer Youmna Chlala’s ongoing project The Museum of Future Memories. Through a combination of text and image Chlala evokes a city in flux: a place of rising sea levels, where seasons have ceased to exist and the remaining inhabitants have forged new ways to live.
Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal, Founder of Alserkal Avenue and Concrete, said: “Concrete was envisioned as a space to host international, museum-grade exhibitions that support cultural understanding. This collaboration with Hayward Gallery, London will bring to the UAE diverse views of our shared future, creating a foundation for an imperative discourse around sustainability and futurology, subjects that are now central to our rapidly-changing world.”
Dr Cliff Lauson, Senior Curator, Hayward Gallery said: “We are delighted to be collaborating with Concrete at Alserkal Avenue for the first time, on an exhibition that takes a timely and imaginative look at the future of our civilisation. It is also Hayward Gallery’s first project space exhibition to tour internationally and we are thrilled that this show will be seen by a global audience in a remarkable new space, and in a city that is constantly looking the future.”
- Adapt to Survive: Notes from the Future to Dubai from 7-21 November 2018.