COLE PROJECTS

Ritual for a New Regime

12 june - 19 july 2020

Featuring work by Sol Bailey- Barker, Rebecca Bellantoni & Rowdy SS, Emma Fisher, Candida Powell- Williams

Nothing has become more evident in this crisis than the natural balance of the Earth being disturbed through humanity’s exploitation of its resources. The crisis has also highlighted systemic injustices and unevenly distributed weaknesses in our societies. What does the cessation of salaries mean to the Capitalocene and how does the invisible threat of a global disease impact the idea of the Anthropocene?

In a world where Science Fiction very quickly becomes Science Fact, is there the possibility that we can create a new reality, or a new story in this very short window of hiatus, that could permanently affect mankind’s onward trajectory into a more symbiotic relationship with the natural and technological world and more equitable relationships with each other? Harraway’s pursuit of kinship between man/animal/nature/technology could be key to our survival. If we do not succeed, it could lead to an existence more along the lines of James Lovelock’s idea of the Novacene, the Hyper Intelligent Age in which mankind assumes the role of domestic plants maintained by superior AI masters. Regardless of which world could come to pass, this is the time to consider alternatives to the current status quo, and ensure that a return to what we called normal doesn’t return.

Challenging the idea of what an exhibition is, who is the audience and what is its purpose – this collaboration uses this time of enforced reflection to imagine and prepare for a new reality in which traditional modes of thinking are reconceptualised. Rebecca Bellatoni’s performances investigate our preconceived notions of the accepted ‘real’ and the experiential ‘real’, thinking through possible ways of rupturing those borders, and for Ritual for a New Regime she is collaborating with Rowdy SS, who works at the intersection of sound/music, masculine and feminine, giving life to new and old concepts, processes, traditions and techniques. Candida Powell-Williams’ freestanding sculptures exist in the threshold between two states of mind- subscribing to both scientific logic and an evidence based understanding of the world, whilst simultaneously employing esoteric behaviour, juxtaposing withSol Bailey Barker’s techno shamanic totems which are the embodiments of Biotechnophillic ecosystem caretakers which, having been installed in an old military base, also act as guardians to a potential otherworldly ceremonial site.

Coming together in varying intersections and a time when society is at a crossroads, all the artists featured in this exhibition break down the boundaries of what we thought we knew and invite the viewer to anticipate what our new reality could be.