Michael Stevenson: Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief

Published on the occasion of Michael Stevenson’s solo exhibition at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, the two-volume publication Michael Stevenson: Disproof Does Not Equal Disbelief brings together Profiles in Serene Velocity: Book I & II, both designed by Will Holder. The notion of a two-room model has long given structural guidance to Stevenson’s practice and consolidates his ongoing interest in various conflicting knowledge structures, origin myths, or worldviews. Fragments from both volumes read aloud during the launch will provide insights into Stevenson’s practice over the past 35 years. Voiced from the belly of our constructed world the publication highlights that disproving rational theories does not automatically and irrevocably equal disbelief.

Book I: Cultural Dope was produced for the presentation of Stevenson’s Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183 at the Auckland Art Gallery, the Biennale of Sydney and Monash University Museum of Art between 2017 and 2019.

Book II: Kayfabe Logic responds to Stevenson’s solo exhibition at KW, which presents an unconventional survey of Stevenson’s practice since the 1980s. The publication traces the spatial arrangement of the works at KW and brings together two voices: an in-depth essay by the art historian Dr. Anna Parlane, and a phantasmagorical poem by the author Heike Geißler.