QED - Friday 11 October 2013
https://www.neme.org/blog/qed-friday-11-october-2013
18:00-23:00, Friday, 11 Oct 2013 Programme
Saturday programme | Sunday programme
It is our pleasure, on behalf of NeMe, to invite and welcome you to QED which is co-organised by NeMe and and The Department of Communications and Internet Studies of The Cyprus University of Technology.
All screenings will be delivered at Pefkios Georgiades Amphitheatre, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol.
A name. Everybody has one. Individuals, artists and academics from all over the world share their thoughts about the meaning and purpose of one’s name from both private and public perspectives. The problem of homonymy and other reasons for changing one’s name are explored as the film draws references from history, popular culture and individual experiences, leading us to the case of a name change that caused a stir in the small country of Slovenia and beyond.
In 2007 three artists joined the conservative Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) and officially changed their names to that of the leader of that party, the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Janez Janša. While they renamed themselves for personal reasons, the boundaries between their lives and their art began to merge in numerous and unforeseen ways.
Signified as an artistic gesture, this particular name change provoked a wide range of interpretations in art circles both in Slovenia and abroad, as well as among journalists and the general public.
The documentary features a great deal of internationally known names, among them UBERMORGEN.COM, Vuk Ćosić, Franco and Eva Mattes, Jan Fabre, Stephen Kovats, Tim Etchells, Vaginal Davis, Mladen Dolar, and, last but not least… Janez Janša, Janez Janša and Janez Janša.
Janez Janša will respond to audience questions after the screening.
Janez Janša is one of the three contemporary artists who in 2007 changed their names to Janez Janša, the name of the Slovenian right-wing politician Janez Janša. He is a conceptual artist, performer and producer graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts of Milan, Italy. His work has a strong social connotation and is characterized by an inter-media approach. He is co-founder and director of Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana.
Strange Culture is a film by Lynn Hershman Leeson which chronicles the surreal nightmare of internationally-acclaimed artist and professor Steve Kurtz began when his wife Hope died in her sleep of heart failure. Police who responded to Kurtz’s call deemed Kurtz’s art suspicious and called the FBI. Within hours the artist was detained as a suspected “bioterrorist” as dozens of federal agents in Hazmat suits sifted through his work and impounded his computers, manuscripts, books, his cat, and even his wife’s body.
Steve Kurtz will deliver a short introduction about his work before the film and will also respond to audience questions after the screening.
Steve Kurtz holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Humanities. He is currently a Professor at the University of Buffalo and previously was an Associate Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University. He is a founding member of the internationally acclaimed art and theory group Critical Art Ensemble (CAE) who focus on the exploration of the intersections between art, critical theory, technology, and political activism. The collective has performed and produced a wide variety of projects for an international audience at diverse venues ranging from the street, to the museum, to the Internet.
