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Exhibition (Group): Ongoing

©Suchan Kinoshita
©Suchan Kinoshita

Suchan Kinoshita, 'Pijlen' [Arrows], 2002 (videostill)

Media

M HKA, Antwerp

The fact that man is capable of action means that the unexpected can be expected from him [...]. 
Hannah Arendt 

Expectations, positions and structures within society seem to be constantly shifting. This can evoke feelings of uncertainty and fear. Often, one then falls back on ideas such as safety, control, and uniformity, unambiguity. But what if we instead make room for chance, contradiction, and polyphony? Ongoing is about what it means for artists to keep working when certainty is lacking. Not as a message, not as an answer, but as an attitude. Acting without guarantee also means acting in the moment, without knowing where it will lead exactly. It touches upon ideas such as freedom, spontaneity, and the risk of failure. In this respect, it stands in contrast to goal-oriented acting where the result is central. The works in the collection show different ways of artistic action. Sometimes this is exploratory: artists revisit their work, try again, and feel out possibilities. Sometimes that acting takes on a different form and seems to almost fall silent or withdraw. In doing so, humour and seriousness, philosophy and absurdity alternate. In dialogue with permanent presentation The Situation is Fluid, which questions the changeability of the world, Ongoing focuses on which forms of action remain possible within that situation. Not because change is guaranteed. But because stopping is not an option.