by Marley Heltai // Apr. 2, 2024
On Friday May 3rd and Saturday May 4th, E-WERK Luckenwalde will present a weekend of events that explore the concept of saying “no,” inspired by author and art critic Martin Herbert’s collection of essays ‘Tell Them I Said No’ (2016, Sternberg Press). The essays consider the positions of various artists who have withdrawn from or rejected the art world and explore counter cultural movements and new methods of autonomous artistic production. The two-day event will consist of conversations, performances and workshops by an international roster of artists, performers and thinkers. According to the curators, the program will consider “the implications of resistance, what radical models of self-sufficiency look like, the political connotations of counterculture (or cancel culture), who has the privilege to say no, and artistic vulnerability.”
Titled ‘The Drop Out: Tell Them I Said No,’ the event will take place throughout E-WERK’s unique 25,000-square-meter site in Luckenwalde, less than an hour outside of Berlin. Formerly a coal power station, E-WERK Luckenwalde is now used as an art and exhibition center focused on sustainability and community involvement. Artistic directors Helen Turner and Pablo Wendel have even created their own renewable energy source called Kunststrom (art power), which is available for home use and helps to fund the exhibitions shown at E-WERK. The event will take place throughout the entire site including the outdoor geodesic dome, the Turbine Hall and the newly-acquired neighboring Bauhaus Stadtbad. Karaoke and sauna sessions will also take place on site.
Pussy Riot // Courtesy of the artists
Alongside the conversations, panel discussions and workshops, there will be performances by several artists and musicians, including the Russian feminist performance art group Pussy Riot. Founded by Nadya Tolokonnikova in 2011, the group consists of 11 women who in addition to making punk music, stage provocative performances and guerilla gigs protesting against human rights violations. Their lyrics and art focuses primarily on issues in Russia, such as resistance to Putin’s regime, but the group are also staunch advocates for various activism issues worldwide such as reproductive rights and LGBTQ advocacy. Pussy Riot will perform on Saturday the 4th, along with Abbas Zahedi and JJJJJerome Ellis. Additionally, other creative avenues will be delved into such as a ceramic installation and performance art piece by Melanie Jame Wolf exploring the politics of performance as labor or Lauryn Youden’s poetry reading, essay and performative lecture on love ruled by disease.
Melanie Jame Wolf // Photo by Mayra Wallraff, courtesy of the artist
Abbas Zahedi: ‘Waiting With {Sonic Support},’ 2022 // Photo by Toby Apson
In person conversations will also take place throughout the weekend between the event’s curators and the performing artists. In their talk, artists Candice Breitz, Lamis Ammar and Zoë Claire Miller will address topics like resistance and stigmatization within the art world. Visitors can anticipate engaging discussions and workshops that tackle questions of agency and notions of self-sufficiency, exploring who possesses the various forms of capital to confidently assert refusal. Moreover, the exploration of artistic vulnerability fosters an introspective journey into the psychological and emotional aspects of creative expression, inviting participants to consider the authenticity and bravery required to embrace vulnerability within artistic practice.
‘The Drop Out: Tell Them I Said No’ will offer an exciting weekend full of engaging events and a platform for critical reflection and dialogue on the multifaceted dynamics of saying “no.”
Event Info
E-WERK Luckenwalde
Group Show: ‘The Drop Out: Tell Them I Said No’
Program: May 3-4, 2024
Admission: € 17 (2-Day Early Bird Ticket)
kunststrom.com
Tickets: eventbrite.de
Rudolf-Breitscheid-Straße 73, 14943 Luckenwalde, click here for map
