Forum: The In/Visibility of Political Art and Toronto Book Launch of Byproduct

Share this announcement on:  Facebook | Delicious | Twitter Please join us for an evening of talks, discussion and drinks to launch the new bookByproduct: On the Excess of Embedded Art Practices edited by Marisa Jahn and reflect on the themes of The Power Plant's current exhibitions. 6 PM Lakeside Terrace, Harbourfront Centre Drawing on the themes of the anthology, as well as The Power Plant's current exhibitions by Thomas Hirschhorn and Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, guest speakers will reflect on the question of visibility in political art practices. What is the role of images or objects in current political artmaking when many artists are choosing to work covertly, even invisibly? And do these more "embedded" practices only gain meaning when they become visible? Must production leave a trace to be effective? Moderated by Curator & Head of Programs Melanie O'Brian, the event will see Byproduct editor Marisa Jahn present on the anthology and critic/art historian Claire Bishop speak about her research in this field, specifically on Thomas Hirschhorn's past public projects. 8 PM The Power Plant FREE The forum will be followed by a FREE reception launching Byproduct at The Power Plant. In attendance will be the honourable Miss Canadiana, who appears courtesy of outerregion. Participants: The editor of Byproduct, Marisa Jahn is an artist, writer and co-founder of REV-, a non-profit organization that fosters socially-engaged art, design and pedagogy. A graduate from MIT, Jahn's work has been presented internationally and she is currently embedded in Street Vendor Project, a vendor advocacy organization, and People's Production House, a journalism training and production institute. Claire Bishop is Associate Professor in the PhD Program in Art History at CUNY Graduate Center, New York, and Visiting Professor in the Curating Contemporary Art department at the Royal College of Art, London. Her publications include Installation Art: A Critical History (2005) and the edited anthology Participation (2006). She is a regular contributor to Artforum, and her second monograph, Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship, will be published by Verso in 2011. Co-presented with YYZBOOKS and REV- The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery www.thepowerplant.org | 231 Queens Quay West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada