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You are here: Home / LACE / 2015-2019 / Paroxysm of Sublime

Paroxysm of Sublime

Photograph by Chris Wormald.

Curated by Anna Milone, FLAX Program Director and Curator and Ana Iwataki, FLAX Associate Curator.
Opening Reception September 18, 7-10 PM
Exhibition Dates September 18, 2019 to November 3, 2019

There is a clear sense of urgency that is both rising and collective. It seems to be a matter of dis-ease, as philosopher Glenn Albrecht puts it. His diagnosis for our times is that of solastalgia—an illness at once psycho and somatic—affecting humanity at large, caused by a changing, once-familiar environment, whose fate seems beyond our control. Home becomes first uncanny, then hostile, like a nightmare in which one’s mother morphs into a stranger, then an enemy.

The title of this exhibition, quoting a poem by sculptor Sara Favriau, emphasizes the unfolding of changes, leading to a paroxysm often followed by a drastic transformation. Directly referencing the overwhelmingness of the sublime as defined by Kant, the exhibition draws from the history and present of philosophy. To take on the concept of solastalgia, we need to question our definitions of “home” and “environment”. The notion of environment can also denote some kind of separation, the control and domination of mankind over its habitat. In Los Angeles, the majority of the city’s plant life was brought by settlers to “imparadise” the land and recreate familiar environments, or otherwise introduced to the region to reflect, instill, and develop desire and fantasy, dramatically changing the ecosystem and shaping its visual identity. Solastalgia is a feeling of homesickness while being at home, in a ”natural” environment constructed by human presence, perpetually in rapid transformation. This dystopian element of the city points to the question of colonization by nature, all the more insidious for its “natural” disguise.

This exhibition brings together reflections on our shared pathology and pathos. If a sense of dread, fear, and grief is palpable, then so is the desire to act. These reactions are brought into the light, so that we might collectively face what we must collectively correct. In catastrophe, affect becomes not an ending, but a hinge to incite evolution in our relationship to the environment, to loss, and the passing of time, sometimes romanticized or fantasized. The blending of timelines and cartographies works towards a more nuanced view of past, present, and impending change, to ritual and symbiosis as methods of healing. This confluence of time and space encourages the reconsideration of other paradigms — nature/culture, pre/post apocalypse, native/foreign.

The exhibition will examine the effects of solastalgia, its relationship with the history of Western philosophy, its broader significance in multiple temporalities and geographies, and a search for remedies outside of a Western paradigm. Doing so requires various voices, “a rush of stories”, to quote Anna Tsing: “To listen and to tell a rush of stories is a method. And why not make the strong claim and call it a science, an addition to knowledge? Its research object is contaminated diversity; its unit of analysis is the indeterminate encounter (…) A rush of stories cannot be neatly summed up. Its scales do not nest neatly; they draw attention to interrupting geographies and tempos. These interruptions elicit more stories. This is the rush of stories’ power as a science.”

An archive of various textual references and other objects for storing knowledge offered by the curators and artists, including tinctures by Candice Lin, will be presented in various forms throughout the exhibition. iris yirei hu has collaborated with Andrew Freire to conceive a structure that will be a platform for this collection of knowledge and histories. The materiality of the library is itself a partial archive of LACE’s exhibition history and will highlight the infrastructural support (in knowledge, labor and materials) that are required to realize an exhibition.

This project was part of the publication Solidarity Offerings: Three Curatorial Approaches to Ecocritical Art, which can be read for free through the link.

Click here to read press release.

Hyperallergic Review Paroxysm of Sublime

Artistik Rezo Review Paroxysm of Sublime

Exhibition in partnership with France Los Angeles Exchange (FLAX).

Curator bios here.

Artists: Eddie Aparicio, Carmen Argote, Beatriz Cortez, Sara Favriau, Etienne de France,David Horvitz, iris yirei hu, Candice Lin, Laura Huertas Millán, Eva Nielsen, Nine Herbs Charm (Eric Kim, Hannah Mjølsnes, Saewon Oh), Hubert Robert, SMITH x DIPLOMATES, and Daniel Otero Torres

Artist Bios: see here

 


Filed Under: 2015-2019, Exhibition, LACE Tagged With: ana iwataki, and Daniel Otero Torres, anna milone, Artists: Eddie Aparicio, Beatriz Cortez, Candice Lin, Carmen Argote, David Horvitz, Etienne de France, Eva Nielsen, Hannah Mjølsnes, Hubert Robert, iris yirei hu, Laura Huertas Millán, Nine Herbs Charm (Eric Kim, Saewon Oh), Sara Favriau, SMITH x DIPLOMATES

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As part of a special Mother’s Day celebration in As part of a special Mother’s Day celebration in 1990, Freshly Wrapped Candies headlined a two-night celebration of motherhood at LACE, featuring an eclectic group of artists, musicians, poets, and performers. 

Among them was Anna Homler (@homlerian), who will be performing with Jeff Schwartz and David Javelosa (@microwave_buddha) during “ENDURANCE” next Sunday, May 17. 

Pictured here: Freshly Wrapped Candies performing; swipe to see the event’s flyer. Wishing a lovely weekend to all the moms and mother figures!
Printed Matter’s 2025 LA Art Book Fair is happen Printed Matter’s 2025 LA Art Book Fair is happening soon at the ArtCenter College of Design! From May 15-18, stop by Booth C13 to say hi to the LACE team and browse our publications. 

LAABF (@printedmatter_artbookfairs) features artists and collectives, small presses, institutions, galleries, and much more. Check out their website for a full calendar of events. We hope to see you there! @printedmatterinc
Happening May 16 and 17, “ENDURANCE” presents Happening May 16 and 17, “ENDURANCE” presents performance art and interdisciplinary work by elder artists. 🔶 

Pictured here is “BLACK GOLD/FEVER,” a 2011 multi-media performance by Ulysses Jenkins. The performance called back to the artist’s 1980 piece, also performed at LACE, entitled “Columbus Day: a doggerel.” Utilizing dance, video projections, music, and spoken word, “BLACK GOLD/FEVER” measured the toll placed upon the environment and Indigenous peoples. 

See Ulysses Jenkins and the Dark Bob as part of “ENDURANCE.” This event is free to attend with RSVP. Tickets are going quickly, and LACE has created a wait list to accommodate interest. Click the link in our bio for more information. 

Please note: Because seating is very limited for this program, we ask that if you can no longer attend, you release your ticket so someone else may attend. Performance line-up subject to change.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth at Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth at the @latimes Festival of Books this past weekend! 

And a big shout-out to our friends in the @latimesfob booth, who are always doing vital work: @centerforlanduseinterpretation, Equitable Vitrines, @gyopo.us and @lapovertydepartment. 

Polaroid photo by @funkentelekison
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