The Third Event in the ‘Bodymerge’ Performative Lecture Series with Diana Policarpo and Gediminas Žygus at SODAS 2123, curated by Neringa Černiauskaitė

2023-01-05

On 10 January, at 6pm, the third and final event in the performative lecture series Bodymerge will take place at SODAS 2123 (Vitebsko St 23, Vilnius). During the event, Portuguese artist Diana Policarpo and Lithuanian artist Gediminas Žygus will present their practice in the form of a kaleidoscopic lecture and a listening session. The Bodymerge series attempts to test the boundaries of the artist talk genre and push the format into a still somewhat hazy—but hopefully fruitful—terrain between lecture and performance. The series is curated by LIAA member Neringa Černiauskaitė.

Diana Policarpo’s work reveals a profound and complex investigation of the different relationships between feminism, health, and magic. Through storytelling varying from sci-fi to archival imagery, the performative lecture will explore ideas and experiences of violence enacted against people with uteruses and non-human bodies in the backdrop of capitalist dispossession. Invoking texts and notes from a selection of her works, Policarpo will present stories about the seizure of land and the speed of extinction, at the same time weaving magical, mystical and animist practices into a narrative of healing and economic progress.

Gediminas Žygus’ performative lecture will present an exploration of the role of synthetic media in the reshaping of the future of corporate identity. The lecture will look into forms of how corporate entities shall communicate themselves when AI-assisted forms of audio and video content production tools become commonplace.

Diana Policarpo is a visual artist and composer who works between London and Lisbon. Through speculative transdisciplinary research, she investigates gender politics, economic structures, health, and interspecies relations. Policarpo’s performances and installations examine experiences of vulnerability and empowerment associated with acts of exposing oneself to the capitalist world.

Policarpo’s work has been exhibited around the world, including solo presentations at Kunsthal Aarhus (upcoming); Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin; Ocean Space, Venice; RADIUS, Delft; CRAC, Sète; Kunsthall Trondheim; Galeria Municipal do Porto; Galeria Lehmann + Silva, Porto; GNRtion, Braga; Kunstverein Leipzig; and Kunsthall Baden-Baden, among other institutions. Policarpo has recently exhibited, performed and screened her work at Serralves Museum, Porto; Maus Hábitos, Porto; Galeria Francisco Fino, Lisbon; Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Elvas (MACE); Chiado 8, Lisbon; Mars Gallery, Melbourne; Peninsula Gallery, New York; W139, Amsterdam; Kunsthall Oslo; LUX-Moving IMage, ICA, Tenderpixel Gallery and Cafe OTO, London. Policarpo was the winner of the Prémio Novos Artistas Fundação EDP 2019 and the illy Present Future Prize 2021.

 Gediminas Žygus is a Lithuanian artist working with sound, film and performance. Their practice focuses on the construction of identity in the Post-Anthropocene. Žygus has presented works and collaborations at: the Barbican Centre, London; Berghain, Berlin; La Biennale di Venezia; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; Haus der Kunst, Munich; HKW, Berlin; the Palais de Tokyo, Paris; The Kitchen USA; Unsound, Krakow; and other venues.

Design of the series: Domantė Nalivaikaitė
Curator: Neringa Černiauskaitė

The event is free of charge.

The performative lecture series is sponsored by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Vilnius city municipality.

Information partner: 15min.

The series is organised by the Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association and the SODAS2123 cultural centre.

Bodymerge visual design: Domantė Nalivaikaitė