Interspecies Entanglements at Site Gallery
Maja Lorkowska, Exhibitions EditorThis season, Site Gallery is turning into a site of biological experimentation with a new exhibition Interspecies Entanglements.
The works in the show take a closer look at different ecosystems and the relationships that exist between different human and non-human entities. On a larger scale, the concept does, of course, relate back to the climate crisis and political turmoil. Rather than focusing on the human perspective though, Interspecies Entanglements centres stories from other species and deep time on a micro and macro level, reminding us of something greater than our own, anthropocenic view of the world.
Here are some highlights from the works on display.
Molecular Love is a long-term project by Argentinian artist Mercedes Azpilicueta which started in 2016. For Interspecies Entanglements she presents Act 4 of the project which uses tie-dye textiles to compose assemblages with a background of deconstructed scores. The concept focuses on multiple entities fed by migrating organic matter. The project started off as a score and performative installation with dancers and singers, while the following acts evolved to include textiles as well as performance.
Keira Greene’s video work Encaustic Drift (2018), gives voice to Graptolites, our long extinct plankton ancestry. The voiceover speaks to us from within deep time that merges the past and the future. Greene’s work often begins with a specific location, and in the case of Encaustic Drift it is Dobs Linn in Scotland, known for its graptolite-bearing strata. The artist explores our interspecies memory to speculate about how the Graptolite species moved and how deep in the ocean they lived.
Vivian Caccuri is interested in musical cultures and sound production, while her creations often include physical elements too. In this exhibition, she presents The New World Syrup & The Fever Hand (2019), a performance piece in the form of a lecture focusing on the return of yellow fever to South America, which draws attention to the strange timing when Brazil was in a period of such political disturbance.
Viewers will also be able to find works by Nordic artist duo nabbteeri made up of Janne Nabb and Maria Teeri and a performance-based film by Rebecca Jagoe.