Surface Tension_Copenhagen

Working from the viewpoint that artistic practice may lend itself to fashioning new perspectives on social relations, Surface Tension_ Copenhagen brings together practitioners from varied geographies and disciplines to undertake collaborative projects that seek to engage the city of Copenhagen. The exhibition extends from a past exhibition, Surface Tension_Curitiba, held in Curitiba Brazil in January 2006. Driving this series of exhibitions is the intention to examine local urban conditions through creative work by inviting multiple viewpoints onto the local from both residents of the city as well as visitors. In this regard, the exhibition aims to stimulate an exchange between local artists and international visitors, so as to generate and question methods of working relationally, understandings of local conditions, and the urgencies around building strategies.

Surface Tension_Curitiba

Continuing work being produced and explored through the Surface Tension publications, artists/editors Ken Ehrlich (Los Angeles) and Brandon LaBelle (Copenhagen), will meet in Curitiba, Brazil, to collaborate with local artists Octávio Camargo and Guilherme Soares. Collaborations will be based on exploring the city of Curitiba, as an environment, thereby fostering an exchange between local understanding and foreign perspective: how each meet to negotiate observations and interpretations about the city and its activities, structures, inhabitants and rituals. Research will lead to investigations of urban infrastructures, from home environments to electrical power, local cultures to practices of minor production. The collaborations will result in the exhibition of works and the presentation of events, such as cooking performances and radio broadcasts.
How might a model of working on site incorporate the limits or resistance of the site itself?