WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25 at 7PM

Thomas Hirschhorn addresses his engagement with the problem of “pixilation” and “de-pixelation” and his decision “to see and look at the world as it is, and to insist in doing so.” Hirschhorn notes: “I believe blurring or masking and furthermore censorship or self-censorship, is a growing and insidious issue, also in the social media today. I don’t accept that, under the claim of ‘protecting’ - protecting me, protecting the other - the world is pixelated in my place. I want, I can, I need and I must use my own eyes to see everything in our world, as act of emancipation. ‘De-pixelation’ is the term I use to manifest that pixelating no longer makes sense. Pixels, blurring, masking, and censorship in general, can no longer hold back or conceal fake-news, facts, opinions or comments. Fake-news, facts, opinions, comments entirely take part in the “Post-Truth”. We have definitely entered the post-truth world. Pixelation stands for the form of agreement in this post-truth world. I want to insist heavily on what makes me work in a kind of urgency and necessity: The world has to be ‘de-pixelated’.”

About the Artist

Thomas Hirschhorn (b. 1957 Bern, Switzerland) has had his work shown in numerous museums, galleries and exhibitions among which the Venice Biennale (1999, 2015), Documenta11 (2002), 27th Sao Paolo Biennale (2006), 55th Carnegie International, Pittsburg (2008), the Swiss Pavillion, 54th Venice Biennale (2011), La Triennale at Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2012), 9th Shanghai Biennale (2012), Gladstone Gallery New York (2012), Manifesta 10 in Saint-Petersburg (2014), Atopolis Mons (2015) and South London Gallery (2015). Thomas Hirschhorn’s ‘Presence and Production’ projects include among others the “Gramsci Monument” in the Bronx, New York, 2013 and “Flamme éternelle” at Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2014, the “Bijlmer Spinoza Festival”, Amsterdam, 2009, and “Sperr” at Wiesbaden Biennale 2016.
A selection of his writings is published in English: “Critical Laboratory: The Writings of Thomas Hirschhorn”, MIT Press (October Books), 2013 and in French: “Une volonté de faire, Thomas Hirschhorn” Macula, collection Les in-disciplinés-e-s, 2015. The book “Gramsci Monument” was published in 2015 by Dia and Koenig Books. With each exhibition in museums, galleries and alternative spaces, or with specific works in public space, Thomas Hirschhorn asserts his commitment toward a non-exclusive public. Thomas Hirschhorn has received awards and prizes, among which: “Preis für Junge Schweizer Kunst” (1999), “Prix Marcel Duchamp” (2000), “Rolandpreis für Kunst im öffentlichen Raum” (2003), “Joseph Beuys-Preis” (2004) and the “Kurt Schwitters-Preis” (2011).Hirschhorn studied at the Schule für Gestaltung Zürich from 1978 to 1983 and moved to Paris in 1983, where he has been living since.