Ekasia: The Pride of Progress, Duolun MoMA / ddm Warehouse, Shanghai, China
The work shown in the solo exhibition was created during a residency at the museum. It included participation of local artists; collaborations with; a group of women from the minority Miao in the south of China for the embroidery; the shadow puppet theatre group Szibao and shadow puppet craftsmen for the shadow theatre play.
Eikasia – The Pride of Progress is not only the name of an exhibition. Josefina Posch´s current exhibition at DDM Warehouse, combining her previous and recent works, reveals her attitude toward our society, highlighting it´s false sense of convenience. Each sculpture in the space is hung closely, resembling us sitting in our office cubicles. Posch´s most recent works were produced during the course of her two-month residency at the Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art. We used to call the project “the black space”. In reality, the plan for her residency arouse from her breathing, lung-like sculpture.
In the DDM Warehouse space, she creates another environment, providing a space for audiences to linger and even recline to view the artists´ faces and to hear their recorded heartbeats. Does anybody listen to intellectuals´ voices nowadays? Posch takes this question seriously, and considers both artists´rights of creative expression and the societal role of the artist.
Posch has claimed that her Shanghai works are not only about Shanghai, but that they also deal with worldwide problems. It can be said that her new works are turning points. They open a fresh means of communication between artist and audience since she has created a unique space and atmosphere that is perhaps a utopia or some shadow of contemporary society.
Our conversation with Josefina took place the day before she left Shanghai. As we prepared the exhibition together, I realized that, for most artists, it is critical to sacrifice something so as to give one´s self new possibilities. I do not believe that this exhibition is her progression; rather, it is more appropriate to say that it is her peak period. In our conversation, Posch discussed her own first experiment, her thoughts, and the world – all from the standpoint of her plan.
Biljana Ciric, Curator and Writer, Text original published in- China Today, NY Arts Magazine
Intrude 366 – Zendai MoMA, Shanghai, China
The site specific installation was part of the Intrude 366 exhibition with Zendai MoMA in Shanghai. A casting booth for a fictive reality TV show was built and put up in a local shopping mall. The audience was urged to give a 60 sec presentation to why they should be cast in the program. What the participant did not immediately realize was that the segment was shown in real time at a large outdoor screen in another part of the shopping center. At the time there had not been any reality TV shows in China, which provided me with the opportunity to test if the Chinese tradition of saving face was indeed stronger than the possibility of fame.