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PROMOTION Artists and author China Miéville explore the blurring boundaries between sci-fi and reality
More than ever, it feels like we’re living in a sci-fi movie. Right now you could probably pull a slab of miracle plastic out of your pocket and access any item of information with just a handful of swipes. Virtual reality is no longer a Star Trek: The Next Generation pipe dream. And NOT having a Facebook account with instant access to hundreds of friends around the world puts you in the minority.
A major new exhibition called Science Fiction: New Death aims to explore the increasing unreality of our everyday life. The event runs from 27 March – 22 June at FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) in Liverpool and entry is FREE . Artists including James Bridle, Jon Rafman, Ryan Trecartin, Mark Leckey, Karen Mirza, Brad Butler and Larissa Sansour have all contributed works exploring how technology is creating new ways of living (and dying), fashioning identities and contributing to the growth of cult-like communities – all things science fiction fans know a thing or two about.
Among the subjects explored via video projects and a variety of installations are: the relationship between memory and identity, the process of having your citizenship revoked, the visualisation of electronic communication, the energy of dissidence and uprising, the deadlock in the middle east, a new environmentally friendly way of decomposing the human body and the unexpected connections between strangers around the globe.
Tying each installation together is a series of short texts produced by award winning SF author China Miéville . Inspired by the work of JG Ballard, the texts present the exhibition as a deconstructed movie set, with the curator as director, artists as actors, Miéville as scriptwriter and acclaimed artist collective The Kazimier as set-designers. It looks to the bleak, man-made landscapes of the future and asks what technology commonplace in science fiction means for our future.
The Personal Archive will accompany the exhibition, showcasing a specially curated selection of clips from sci-fi films and TV programmes, books, memorabilia and homemade sci-fi films. There’ll also be screenings of classic and lesser-known sci-fi films (including Moon , Mirage Men and They Live ), a residency programme with online magazine The Double Negative and the creation of a new zine by members of FACT’s Young People’s programme Freehand.
FACT is open seven days a week 12pm-6pm (11am-6pm on Saturdays) and entry is FREE. Further details of the event programme can be found here . Don’t miss what promises to be the year’s most thought-provoking exhibition.
