What makes it possible for a work of art to live simultaneously in the aesthetic and social worlds? How can we encourage or enhance a “multi-temporality” and cross the line between “common objects” and “artistic objects” without succumbing to the privatization of culture as a form of property? Questions like these are the crux of the year-long program SYMPTOMS OF THE FUTURE.

The group exhibition ANCIENT WORLDS* presents works by Lala Raščić and Andrew Scott Ross. It looks at artefacts and stories from the past that have been preserved and explores potentially new meanings and knowledge derived from residues of bygone times.

The installation GORGO by Lala Raščić is dedicated to the mythic figure of Medusa, the Gorgon – Gorgo. Medusa’s decapitation was a violent act of colonial patriarchy, as is the appropriation of her head as decoration for shields, armor, gables, plates, cups, and buttons. Using formulas from folktale and myth such as resurrection after initiation and the arming of the hero, the video rests on the premise the Medusa’s dismembered body is made whole again, she is born again. In the video Raščić, embodies the character of the Gorgo, and dons a copper armor that is at the same time an audio instrument.

Andrew Scott Ross reinstalls an evolving installation CENTURY ZOO at Out of Sight. The work consists of representations of classical antiquity. Each element begins as an observational drawing from the original object, which he then eroded through his studio process. Each time CENTURY ZOO gets reinstalled, more corruption takes place, emphasizing how interpretation and analysis of cultural artefacts create a misrepresentation of the subject. These new ‘corrupted’ objects inadvertently reveal the motivations and fantasies of the artist and their cultural environment.

*ANCIEN WORLDS is part of TEN SLOTTE 5, audio-visual festival in Antwerp initiated by ESCAUTVILLE, at the Academy/De Tempel, Out of Sight and De Cinema from 2-17 December 2021.

Artists: Lala Raščić, Andrew Scott Ross