#denismaksimov

[ikonotv]

Sneaking into #ArtBrussels now... More info: http://www.artbrussels.com/ 

[ikonotv]

Aesthetics of Power, a carte blanche curated by Denis Maksimov

Watch on www.ikono.tv - on air April, 21st until May, 20th, 2016

Art and power go hand in hand along the whole period of the history  of civilisation. Aesthetics was employed by the institutions of authority, political and religious, for communication of ideology. Mystification of power provided obedience, loyalty and stability of political order for thousands of years. In Ancient Egypt pharaohs and Roman emperors associated themselves with gods, European royalty was 'blessed' by institutionalised in church mystical social order. Aesthetics provided essential grounding and served political authority until the art individualised its impact and turned into independent political actor itself. Malevich called for revolution in visual perception in the Manifesto of Suprematism, while Bertolt Brecht tried to politicise art in order to turn it into an active agent of social change. Suddenly aesthetics earned the position of freedom from the narrative of political contextualisation.

Curated by Denis Maksimov, the programme features a selection of notable works from both of these subjective periods of aesthetico-political dialogue. The first part of the programme features notable artworks and masterpieces that represent the period when glorification of political power was an essential function of artistic production. The second part features the contemporary video artworks that challenge the position of political institutions and power hierarchies via calling the viewers to contemplate on the very essence of the socio-political system we are inhabiting. 

Participating artists: Amir Yatziv, Sara Tirelli and Elena Mazzi, Caterina Pecchioli and Benjamin Verhoeven.

Denis Maksimov is an aesthetico-political theorist, critic and strategist; co-founder of Avenir Institute, associate curator at Harlan Levey Projects gallery, political advisor at the Eurasia Institute and art editor/director of The Brussels Times Magazine. His recent projects were presented in the context of the 56th Venice Biennale 'All the Worlds' Futures', Off Biennale Cairo 'Something Else', Brussels Poppositions Fair, Marres House for Contemporary Culture in Maastricht, De Brakke Grond Arts Centre in Amsterdam, etc.

Full list of films presented:

‘Superstition in the pigeon’ (2013) by Amir Yatziv discusses the complex issue of Jerusalem, and of Jerusalem as home.

‘The Inflatables’ (2009) by Amir Yatziv shows a group of bodies that slowly, in a kind of animation, turn into toy tanks.

‘Chalk Line’ (2008) by Caterina Pecchioli brings about the theme of divisions in nations through a video that shows an ants community which behaviour gets disturbed by a chalk line. 

‘A Fragmented World’ (2014) is a collaboration by videomaker Sara Tirelli & artist Elena Mazzi and sound designer Giuseppe Cordaro who, for years, devoted himself to the noise emitted by volcanoes. 

‘Sculptural Movements - Chapter I and II’ (2016) by Benjamin Verhoeven presents stop-motion video from scanned images and explores the relationship between sculptures and moving images. 

Watch the full films on ikono.org or on your smart TV with our free art app.