David Toop and John Latham: The Body Event. Language is a Flawed Medium
Exhibition and Film Presentation
5. September, 20:00
"John Latham Films 1960 - 1971", film presentation with an introduction by Antony Hudek
Exhibition: 3. - 18. September 2010
In the context of "Unter dem Motto 2010", Pro qm presents an exhibition and event about the work of the British artist John Latham. "The Body Event: Language is a Flawed Medium" is the third iteration of David Toop's sound work for computer and voice made with John Latham in 2004, two years before the artist's death. The sound work will be presented together with a selection of documents and books.
On Sunday, September 5, 20:00, a program of films by John Latham will be screened and introduced by Antony Hudek (co-editor with Athanasios Velios of "The Portable John Latham"). The films are part of a newly-issued DVD of John Latham's films co-published by LUX and Lisson Gallery, which includes all the artist's completed films as well as previously un-seen performance documentations. The exhibition and event is co-organized with Occasional Papers, London.
"The Body Event" was first presented at John Latham's exhibition "God is Great" at Lisson Gallery, London, in 2005. In 2009, the composition was re-configured at Flat Time House, the artist's former home in Peckham, South London. Musician, writer and curator David Toop has followed John Latham's practice closely, from his first encounter with the artist's work in 1968 to becoming a member of Artist Placement Group in the 1970s and a privileged interlocutor in Latham's later years. Toop recently curated with Tony Herrington an exhibition at Flat Time House entitled "Blow Up: Exploding Sound and Noise (London to Brighton 1959-1969)", and will be performing the premiere of his score based on Latham's theories, "FLAT TIME/sounding", at Whitechapel Gallery, London, on 5 September 2010.
John Latham (1921-2006) was one of the most significant British artists of the second half of the twentieth-century - a pioneer in the fields of experimental film, painting, sculpture, and performance. Most importantly in his own eyes was the concept of Event Structures and Flat Time Theory, which he saw as revolutionizing not merely art but science, philosophy and governance.
http://www.occasionalpapers.org
Unter dem Motto 2010: http://www.mottodistribution.com/site/?page_id=6953
Pro qm will be open for "Unter dem Motto 2010" on Sunday, September 5, 14:00-22:00.
Photo: Walia (from "Contemporary British Artists", Bergstrom+Boyle Books, London 1979)
