syntax error

About

Through acts of speaking, translating, interpreting, and dialoguing, artists Merav Shinn Ben-Alon, Stefanie Gerstmayr, Byungchan Kim, Rolf-Maria Krückels, Matthias Pabsch, Louisa Stylianidi experiment with the transformativity of communication and how mistranslation can yield rifts in perception.

When attempting to render the unrenderable into words or images, meaning gets lost in white noise in a process that adds, alters or interprets the message. The abstraction of language and meta-codes attempt to show that which cannot find words.

The exhibition considers communication as a mechanism that is constantly reinventing itself. Given contemporary discussions around the influence of media, cultural appropriation and digital mediation, is it possible to create actual contact with the unknown? Are we still able to deal with doubt and are we patient enough to discover things not easily consumable?

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Saturday, 24 November, 2-4pm
WORKSHOP: Merav Shinn Ben-Alon, “Drawing Stories and Telling Drawings”

This workshop is neither a writing workshop nor a drawing workshop; it is rather an exercise that is based on shifts between mediums—some writing exercises and some drawing exercises. The shift from drawing to writing bewilders the brain, which alternates from the right side to the left side, compelling an act of translation that generates an “error”.

The workshop is designated for artists from different disciplines, but can also be suitable for people who have no drawing or writing experience or people who have experience with other forms of media. The participants are requested to bring a notebook or a sketchbook and writing and drawing utensils.

Merav Shinn Ben-Alon is a multidisciplinary artist and writer based in Tel-Aviv with 25 years of experience teaching in art institutions and private programs. She works in a variety of media including painting, drawing, writing and installation.

Please email Katie at kyook001@gold.ac.uk to sign up.

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Saturday, 24 November, 5-8pm
READINGS: Louisa Stylianidi and Alexa Barrett
PERFORMANCE: Rolf-Maria Krückels, “Drawing Machine London”

In line with the Greek definition of machine, Drawing Machine does not produce drawings autonomously. Instead, Drawing Machine becomes activated by two or more participants, creating a form of direct communication without words. The process creates a situation of vulnerability and contact in which people generate an image together which is not a representation, but rather a poetic manifestation of their encounter. Drawing Machine has travelled through Europe, Thailand and Israel and is premiering in London at Lewisham Arthouse on the occasion of syntax error.

syntax error is curated by Katie Yook, Stefanie Gerstmayr, and Rolf-Maria Krückels and has received generous support from the Goldsmiths Alumni and Friends Fund.