Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson - Asymmetry

The artistic practice of Libia Castro (Madrid, 1970) and Olafur Ólafsson’s (Reykjavik, 1973) concentrates on the transition towards the post-fordist phase of political, social and cultural develop­ment. Exclusion and exploitation appear as the main issues in Castro and Ólafsson’s critique of flexible subjectivities under pressure of the decline of the nation-state and the rise of global markets and corporations. In their work – executed across media and a variety of genres and disciplines, from political history, through gender studies and sociology – the artists portray an injured world of non-belonging and denied participation.

Asymmetry
Asymmetry is a guiding principle in Castro and Ólafsson’s multimedia and interventionist work. They address injustice and inequality, and portray the rejected subject as well as the authoritative subject. On their journeys, the artists’ research into the workings of inequality attempts to decipher laws on the distribution of power. In a quest for a universal vocabulary their installations bring together texts, languages, and traditions.

‘Asymmetry’ was a 10 year overview of installations, video works, photographs and objects, including the music videos ‘Caregivers’ and ‘Lobbyists’, and the campaigns ‘Il Tuo Paese Non Esiste’ (Your Country Does not Exist) and ‘ThE riGHt tO RighT’. A monumental neon sign reads alternately ThE riGHt tO RighT and ThE riGHt tO WrOnG, questioning the essence of the (human) right itself, and pointing out paradoxes of law and freedom.

A three-part symposium accompanied the exhibition (9 February, 13 March, 17 April, 2013).