The Reverse-Panopticon
A Brief Introduction into Aesthetically Enhanced Interrogation
Ric Bower • Nástio Mosquito • Kelly Schacht
CAMPFA July 19 – August 24th 2019
Artists Ric Bower, Nástio Mosquito and Kelly Schacht present a multifaceted alternative vision for how the fictitious nation of Botrovia might use aesthetic visual experience as a vehicle for disclosing truth, within the nation’s complex socio-political context.
The artists’ arenas of aesthetic enquiry extend from Western academic drawing processes, through to tattooing and quasi-scientific techniques that employ aesthetic gesture for a pragmatic purpose, such as the Rorschach Test. They invite their audience into a world where creative expression is just another method of societal control, and where soft power activities, such as drawing and tattooing, assume hard power roles.
The work manifests in multiple forms as the project progresses: Firstly there is a drawing class (directed by Fagot Koroviev (Ric Bower), the Minister of Security for Botrovia): then the Leader of Botrovia, A.L. Moore (Nástio Mosquito), delivers a personal recorded monologue, a performance for one, directly into the sound system of the Tactic δ:ASPM1b Enlightenment Hood worn by the drawing class model. The class model will sing a confessional song, under direction of A.L. Moore before receiving a tattoo from Koroviev, a mark of their engagement with the work. Meanwhile individuals from the Cardiff-based Iranian and Afghan refugee and asylum seeker communities, acting as the Botrovian Revolutionary Guard, administer Botrovian Truth Serum (vodka) to the drawing students and ensuring they fill out all the necessary Botrovian paperwork.
Artists Ric Bower, Nástio Mosquito and Kelly Schacht present a multifaceted alternative vision for how the fictitious nation of Botrovia might use aesthetic visual experience as a vehicle for disclosing truth, within the nation’s complex socio-political context.
The artists’ arenas of aesthetic enquiry extend from Western academic drawing processes, through to tattooing and quasi-scientific techniques that employ aesthetic gesture for a pragmatic purpose, such as the Rorschach Test. They invite their audience into a world where creative expression is just another method of societal control, and where soft power activities, such as drawing and tattooing, assume hard power roles.
The work manifests in multiple forms as the project progresses: Firstly there is a drawing class (directed by Fagot Koroviev (Ric Bower), the Minister of Security for Botrovia): then the Leader of Botrovia, A.L. Moore (Nástio Mosquito), delivers a personal recorded monologue, a performance for one, directly into the sound system of the Tactic δ:ASPM1b Enlightenment Hood worn by the drawing class model. The class model will sing a confessional song, under direction of A.L. Moore before receiving a tattoo from Koroviev, a mark of their engagement with the work. Meanwhile individuals from the Cardiff-based Iranian and Afghan refugee and asylum seeker communities, acting as the Botrovian Revolutionary Guard, administer Botrovian Truth Serum (vodka) to the drawing students and ensuring they fill out all the necessary Botrovian paperwork.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
About Nástio Mosquito:
Nástio Mosquito is a multimedia, performance and spoken word artist. Often placing himself centre stage in the work, Mosquito deploys mimicry to explore global and African politics. He typically assumes roles not insomuch that they reflect his own cherished beliefs, but rather as an artifice to express cunning observations on human follies manifesting in modern life.
→ www.nastiomosquito.com
About Kelly Schacht:
Belgian artist Kelly Schacht plays with the notions of authorship and originality in her work. Both moments and objects from the past are rethought and become able to generate a renewed aesthetic. Schacht has exhibited internationally and her work is represented by Meessen De Clercq and Tegenboschvanvreden.
→ www.kellyschacht.be
About Ric Bower:
Ric Bower was a founding editor of CCQ magazine, a publication that sought to manifest art practice in a magazine format. His interests lie primarily in the role of the aesthetic as a vehicle for disclosing truth.
Bower has explored the Iranian art scene first hand and was drawn to the tension many artists experience between working with the government to produce propaganda, or choosing to operate completely outside of the state-sanctioned system. He now works closely with the refugee and asylum seeker community in Cardiff on a voluntary basis.
→ http://.ricbower.work
→ http://.ccqmagazine.com
About Nástio Mosquito:
Nástio Mosquito is a multimedia, performance and spoken word artist. Often placing himself centre stage in the work, Mosquito deploys mimicry to explore global and African politics. He typically assumes roles not insomuch that they reflect his own cherished beliefs, but rather as an artifice to express cunning observations on human follies manifesting in modern life.
→ www.nastiomosquito.com
About Kelly Schacht:
Belgian artist Kelly Schacht plays with the notions of authorship and originality in her work. Both moments and objects from the past are rethought and become able to generate a renewed aesthetic. Schacht has exhibited internationally and her work is represented by Meessen De Clercq and Tegenboschvanvreden.
→ www.kellyschacht.be
About Ric Bower:
Ric Bower was a founding editor of CCQ magazine, a publication that sought to manifest art practice in a magazine format. His interests lie primarily in the role of the aesthetic as a vehicle for disclosing truth.
Bower has explored the Iranian art scene first hand and was drawn to the tension many artists experience between working with the government to produce propaganda, or choosing to operate completely outside of the state-sanctioned system. He now works closely with the refugee and asylum seeker community in Cardiff on a voluntary basis.
→ http://.ricbower.work
→ http://.ccqmagazine.com