CCS BARD

http://www.dealinginfutures.com

Dealing in Futures is a multi-part project, which consists of a one-artist residency with Melanie Giligan, co-organizing a tech conference and the publishing of a book. During her residency at Bard College in March, Melanie Gilligan will research about caricature as a form of drawing and political practice and investigate the economic distribution systems, in which this form operates. Out of this research, a script will be commissioned, which will be published along with Gilligan’s earlier performance/video scripts. Crisis in the Credit System, another project by Giligan will be presented at the Dealing in Futuresconference, which is organized by the Science, Technology and Society Programs at Bard College in conjunction with this project.

In Crisis in the Credit System, the artist deconstructs the terms of finance and its effects beyond the world of finance. Dealing in Futures concentrates on information infrastructures and how these infrastructures affect the way we build our futures, be they decisions regarding the distribution of natural resources or financial stability.

Dealing in Futures examines past and present commodity exchange systems and their effects in the larger political sphere. Through a conference, an artist residency and the publishing of a book, this project looks at various strategies with which, as a society, we systematically organize the future conditions of work and daily life. The construction of elaborate exchange systems for the circulation of commodities has generated a level of abstraction, which mostly prohibits its participants from picturing themselves outside this specific economic sphere.

During her residency at Bard College in March, Melanie Gilligan will research about caricature as a form of drawing and political action. Out of this research, a script will be commissioned, which will be published along with Gilligan’s earlier performance/video scripts. The conference, organized by the Science, Technology and Society Programs at Bard College in conjunction with this project, concentrates on information infrastructures and how these infrastructures affect the way we build our futures, be they decisions regarding the distribution of natural resources or financial stability.

THE ARTIST

Melanie Gilligan was born in 1979 in Canada. Her work spans a variety of mediums – performance, video, installation, object and image-making – however writing is often central to her practice. Scriptwriting provides the foundations for Gilligan’s performance and video works while she also writes in a variety of other forms, including articles, experimental combinations of fiction and essay, and lyrics. Her most recent video Crisis in the Credit System, a four-part drama about the financial crisis, synthesized years of research and was released as an internet video on October 1, 2008. Other recent works have been shown in institutions such as Tate Britain (London), Serpentine Gallery (London) Sculpture Center (New York), Greene Naftali Gallery (New York), Transmission Gallery (Glasgow) Lisson Gallery (London) and Orchard Gallery (New York). She contributes regularly to magazines such as Texte zur Kunst, Artforum and Mute Magazine.

Dealing in Futures is curated by Zeynep Oz as part of the requirements for the master of arts degree in curatorial studies.

Student curated exhibitions at CCS Bard are made possible with support from the Rebecca and Martin Eisenberg Student Exhibition Fund; Mitzi and Warren Eisenberg; and the Patrons, Supporters, and Friends of the Center for Curatorial Studies.