A. Byrne’s “Dice of Indecision,” published in 2009. E. A. Byrne’s novel “Dice of Indecision” was published in 2009. With heartfelt gratitude to A.R.T.
LONDON.- This year, The Rag Factory will host an exhibition featuring the work of sixteen different artists from around the world throughout the month of December. As a creative response to the ongoing debate over the value of art, the artists participating in this event will participate in a series of “after hours” poker sessions. During these sessions, the artists will compare their works to those of collectors, curators, and other artists. These workshops will take place within the ever-changing dynamic microcosm of the art market.
The A.R.T. Organisation is hosting an event called Alternative Risk Transfer in London’s East End. In some circles, this event is referred to as an “art casino.” This event encourages participants to engage in risky behaviour. This exhibition features the work of 16 artists chosen for their exploration of the matrix of chance, skill, and risk-taking. Eugene Perera, a London-based artist, co-organized the event with Eiko Honda and Christopher Thomas. The artwork can be found on both levels of The Rag Factory, which is located near Brick Lane.
The exhibition will feature the work of Mark McGowan, widely regarded as the most notorious performance artist working in Britain today, downstairs. Guests will be encouraged to “take a chance” in front of a video camera connected to a monitor outside of the booth, and McGowan will persuade visitors to enter a booth where they will be asked to do so. While Christopher Thomas’ confrontational imagemaking will engage directly with the show’s politics, Simon Foxall’s Jurassic painting will teeter on the brink of representation. The works of both artists will be on display at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Yuki Higashino has committed to singing himself to exhaustion on a regular basis as part of an experiment to determine the physical boundaries of the human body. The Taiwanese graffiti artist known as The Big Other will urge global institutions to stick their heads above the parapet and declare “what is democracy?” as part of a study into the limits of the human mind.
A. Byrne, Elena Cecchinato, Ali Eisa, Patrick Goddard, Catharine Harrington, Jari Kennedy, Jamie Lau, Oliver MacDonald, Stimulus Ltd., and Scott Schwager are among the other artists in this exhibition. The exhibition will include sculpture, painting, photography, performance, and video, and will take place in a space where viewers are encouraged to interact with the artwork and test their nerves. Furthermore, the exhibition will include a wide range of artworks such as sculpture, painting, photography, performance, and video.
Upstairs, in an installation dubbed a “gambling den” by Eugene Perera, the 16 artists taking part in this event will stake their artwork in a series of late-night poker games. Collectors will have the opportunity to acquire the pieces during these games. While collectors play poker to strengthen their market position and purchase power, artists will be able to sell their work if they are successful in negotiating the game’s rules. Collectors enjoy playing poker. Even if some people are successful, there will be others who are not, such as art collectors who lose money on their investments and artists whose work is no longer valued.
The remnants of the previous play will be incorporated into an installation that is currently being developed. This installation will include recordings of discussions that occurred while the game was being played, representations of the work that was staked, and documentation of the game’s twists and turns in the style of a betting shop.
A “Valuation Committee” will analyze each work of art in advance of the show to determine a guiding price for which they will earn poker chips. This will happen prior to the exhibition. This will take place prior to the opening reception. A price will be established following an examination of the piece’s critical, aesthetic, and symbolic worth, as well as how this may relate to the financial value it holds. Once a piece of work has been added to the game, its value is likely to fluctuate in response to the highs and lows caused by player positioning. This is due to the fact that the value of the work is determined by how the players are positioned in the game.
Alternative Risk Transfer hopes to provoke thought about the nature of value, commodification, and risk-taking in the production of art, as well as how artists and collectors attempt to position themselves in the market by participating in the poker game. How can artists, in the course of their work and interactions with the art market, either put themselves in a position of vulnerability or protect themselves from risk? What are the risks associated with a job? What role does chance play in the process of creating something entirely new? How are we supposed to carry out our responsibilities in an environment fraught with unpredictability and risk that is beyond our control?