The Possibility of an Island

Cao Fei. Cosplayers, 2004, DVD, 8:00 minutes. Courtesy of the artist and Lombard-Fried Projects, New York

Cory Arcangel, Davide Balula, Tobias Bernstrup, Heman Chong, Peter Coffin, Matias Faldbakken, Cao Fei, Kim Fisher, Claire Fontaine, K48, Chris Kraus, Nicolas Lobo, Martin Oppel, PHILIP, Lisi Raskin, Cristina Lei Rodriguez, Julika Rudelius, Mungo Thomson

MOCA at Goldman Warehouse - Wynwood Art District, Miami

December 4, 2008 - March 21, 2009

 By Irina Leyva-Pérez

 The uncertainty of the future has been the source of inspiration for many writers and artists over the years. The constant fear of the unknown seems to be a powerful trigger for artistic creation. These, among other factors, probably drove Michel Houellebecq, the French writer, to conceive The Possibility of an Island, which in turn served as a basis for the current exhibition with the same title at MOCA, Goldman Warehouse. In a way, by using this book as a point of departure, this exhibition explores and questions the role of certain books and how some of them affect entire generations of artists, becoming unofficial guides that dictate and influence artistic creation in a certain period of time.

Similarly to the book, this exhibition explores the anxieties and fears connected to contemporary society. The curator threaded the exhibition through the work of a selected group of international artists. Their views on the subject tend towards an existentialist mood. The future, as seen through their eyes, is explored from a pessimistic perspective; extending a dark glow over the exhibition, transmitting the diffidence that these artists are experiencing. In this array of interdisciplinary work, although full of intellectual references and interpretations, the artists are back to the basic philosophical questions of where am I coming from and where is it that am I going to. They are looking at life from the point of view of contemporary man, overwhelmed by a hostile environment, showing the ever-present worries and doubts that drive him. From globalization and integration [Herman Chong, Time Out (Eurasia)], to social alienation [Cao Fei, Cosplayers], to physical decadence and decay [Cristina Lei Rodriguez, Decadence (Red Coral) and Mungo Thomson (Negative Spaces)], to the inevitable passage of time and eventual death [Julika Rudelius, Forever]. The equilibrium and constant balance between life and death, between creation and destruction, between optimism and pessimism.  In these works the artists are projecting the sense of alienation and stress that permeates the existing social environment.

 So, we can define this exhibition as a compendium of individual emotions, which becomes the reflection of various psychological stages that human beings go through. A sort of “surgical” dissection of contemporary society, this exhibition tackles the anxieties associated with life at a precise moment, when the world is changing at an incredible speed, when many established institutions are crumbling, possibly one of the most uncertain moments of the century.