Poetics of Encryption
Performance Lecture:
Surveillance as Material
CANCELLED
with Rindon Johnson
20 March 24, 7 pm
In English
Venue: KW Studio
Registration via reservation@kw-berlin.de
Video still of 6 Jan 2021, Rindon Johnson, Live stream, 45:00, Courtesy the artist
Surveillance as Material is a performance lecture by artist Rindon Johnson (DE/US). Foiling itself on to the tumultuous backdrop of the 6 January 2021 attack at the United States Capitol, Johnson’s performance lecture delves into the complexities and absurdities of surveillance culture, inviting spectators to consider the banality of watching and being watched. The performance lecture will explore themes of control, visual dominance, power dynamics, free speech and the pervasive and/or perverse nature of broadcasting in contemporary internet society. Drawing from recent events on and off line, it is quite possible Johnson will critically examine the intersections of technology, politics, and personal autonomy in the digital age.
Rindon Johnson (b. 1990, US) is an artist and poet. His works are based on language. Johnson has presented solo exhibitions at Albertinum, Dresden; Chisenhale Gallery, London; Julia Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf; and the Sculpture Center, Long Island City; Johnson has participated in group exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum; Kunstverein Freiburg; The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; The Whitney Museum, New York; The Studio Museum in Harlem; Literaturhaus Berlin; Haus der elektronischen Künste, Basel; among others. He is the author of Nobody Sleeps Better Than White People (2016), the VR book, Meet in the Corner (2017), Shade the King (2017), and The Law of Large Numbers: Black Sonic Abyss (2021). He was born on the unceded territories of the Ohlone people. He lives in Berlin.