Negative Space

April 27 2016

Launch and discussion for Antonia Hirsch’s book “Negative Space: Orbiting Inner and Outer Experience” – April 27, 2016. Farbvision, Berlin

Made up of seven conversations and two reprinted texts, Negative Space: Orbiting Inner and Outer Experience (SFU Galleries, 2015) includes contributions by Theodor W. Adorno, Daniel Colucciello Barber, Lorna Brown, Elena Filipovic, Antonia Hirsch, François Laruelle, Olaf Nicolai, Ana Teixeira Pinto, Lisa Robertson, and Wolfgang Winkler. Published by SFU Galleries (Vancouver) and edited by Antonia Hirsch, the reader considers the eponymous inner and outer space as both “real” and imaginary. The title thus describes the space between and around subjects and objects, becoming the focus for contemplation in and of itself. For the Berlin launch, four of the book’s participants will be present to engage with a topic that could have constituted another chapter of the book: a conversation about how such a thing as "relevance" emerges in artistic practice. While artistic practice used to be accepted as a legitimate expression of an individual’s interior world, there has been an increasing demand for artwork to be socially productive. Against this backdrop, one might pose the question: what is the relevance of artwork that is propositional, rather than primarily discursive (a negotiation of positions in the midst of which it emerges)? The conversation will be moderated by Antonia Hirsch; Patricia Reed, initiator of the Inclinations lecture series, will act as respondent.