Exhibition
GCC. Gestures
25 Feb 2017 – 8 Apr 2017
Regular hours
- Saturday
- 11:00 – 18:00
- Tuesday
- 11:00 – 18:00
- Wednesday
- 11:00 – 18:00
- Thursday
- 11:00 – 18:00
- Friday
- 11:00 – 18:00
As part of GGC's ongoing research in the increasingly pervasive trend of Positive Energy gaining momentum in the Gulf region, their second exhibition at the gallery focuses on ways in which these lifestyle attitudes are appropriated.
About
As part of GGC's ongoing research in the increasingly pervasive trend of Positive Energy gaining momentum in the Gulf region, their second exhibition at the gallery focuses on ways in which these lifestyle attitudes are appropriated, employed, and transformed as part of a greater political mechanism.
A set of sculptural reliefs display expressive gestures of practitioners in the Gulf promoting the positive energy movement. The public domain imagery is mostly sourced from Arab daytime television programs and YouTube videos. They illustrate and contain instructions about breathing exercises and alternative therapies.
Based on 3D renderings the reliefs are created with thermoforming, a commonly used industrial process where thermoplastic sheets are heated and formed on a mold. Ranging from politicians to social media celebrities to TV clerics, these individuals utilize the Positive Energy attitude as a base for state policy. Referring to the erasure and creation of cultural myths, these reliefs create narratives of the present, a mechanism of both nation building and the politics of cultural extinction and creation.