FILM SCREENING AND Q&A WITH ALEKSANDRA KARPOWICZ

Curators

The Koppel Project

Artists

Aleksandra Karpowicz

The Koppel Project Hive are pleased to present a Film Screening and Q&A with Forging The Self exhibiting artist Aleksandra Karpowicz

Aleksandra Karpowicz will be screening two films that are part of the exhibition Forging The Self at The Koppel Project Hive, which is currently closed due to the current UK Covid-19 restrictions. The two films featured include 'Eleutherophobia - fear of freedom' and 'Lungs For Sale' followed by a short Q&A.

'Eleutherophobia - fear of freedom' (11’11”) explores the potential to formulate a New Human Identity as a response to the dissolution of the foundational myths and institutions upon which our culture is predicated. Karpowicz’s response is framed by the realisation that identities structured around ideologies, belief systems and difference not only fail to serve us as individuals, but bring greater division and polarisation amongst communities.

‘Eleutherophobia’ acknowledges the deficiency of the existing social order to give individuals access to the context and tools they need to actualise their full potential.

Karpowicz dissembles a disturbing landscape of human pathology and dysfunction, then conducts an autopsy, articulating her own subjectivity through the psychological shocks that threatened to define her. Appearing nude, in ironic accordance with Western art’s preoccupation with the naked female subject, she wryly acknowledges her social positioning as a woman. To exist as either an edenic innocent, passive and decorative, or as a commodified fleshy reality, sexualised in the gaze of the spectator and equally disempowered. Neither process Karpowicz can control any more than the wars that have defined the territory of the place she was born.

Positing a place beyond the heavy layers of indoctrinated identity, ‘Eleutherophobia’ is a violent expulsion of the past to reconfigure a self through lived experience and joint aspiration as humanity. Karpowicz challenges us all to ask what does it really mean to be free and how do we get there?

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'Lungs for Sale' is a film that documents the convergence of two distinct timelines of anxiety; the existential threat of extraordinary global events and the unraveling of Karpowicz’s own mental and physical health. After a lifelong struggle with an undiagnosed lung condition, the breaking news of the pandemic struck powerfully into Karpowicz’s psyche. Not only were her conscious thoughts bombarded by the daily onslaught of horrific imagery, the sense of dread permeated her dreams. One of those dreams, in which she attempted to purchase a new set of lungs, instigated a cascade of uncomfortable revelations about the structure of society and the artist's own position within it.

Utilising this dream as an access point, Karpowicz explores the multiplicity of tensions that converge to define our fraught socio-political landscape. Intertwining her own fear and confusion with a parallel onslaught of disturbing news from around the world, Karpowicz endeavours to articulate the vulnerability of the individual as they attempt to comprehend and adjust to radical change. 'Lungs for Sale' explores the dystopian reality exposed by the pandemic and the dangerous consequences of industrialised societies fuelled by hatred, fear and greed. A reality where universal experiences of disempowerment and disenfranchisement have led to the destruction of democracy and looming environmental disaster.

Whilst 2020 brought humanity’s desperate situation into sharp focus, the threats posed by poverty, inequality, unregulated capitalism, abuse of power, destruction of democracy, lack of universal healthcare and climate change are perennial. These problems were already part of our daily lives but the pandemic has made facing our collective challenges more pressing than ever before. We are at a decisive moment for our existence; we will respond effectively to the horror laid bare, or will we attempt to forge a “new normal” that isn’t that much different for those already suffering?

'Lungs for Sale' is a continuation of Karpowicz’s exploration of the potential to formulate a New Human Identity as a response to the dissolution of the foundational myths and institutions upon which our culture is predicated. The global problems we face now requite global solutions. They can be found only through solidarity and empathy. However, are we ready to see ourselves as allies not enemies?

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If you missed these events and would like access to a recording, please email info@thekoppelproject.com

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FORGING THE SELF

11th Dec 20 -> 16th Apr 21

Via Appointment

Hive

Exhibition