Artists Explore Protest's Spatial Dynamics in Video Works
Stéphanie Lagarde's video from 2018, titled Déploiements, juxtaposes aerial displays by the French military with simulations of police crowd control, highlighting the friction between state authority and demonstrator chaos. It draws on Georges-Eugène Haussmann's urban redesigns in Paris during the 1850s and 60s, aimed at quelling unrest. A firsthand narrative from a 2010 protest against student fees in London recounts police kettling, resulting in 41 arrests; UK courts ruled kettling lawful in 2012, although Liberty condemned its effect on the right to assemble. Tania Bruguera's 2008 performance, Tatlin's Whisper #5, featured mounted police in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern. Manolis D. Lemos's 2017 video dusk and dawn look just the same showcases 26 individuals in Omonoia Square, Athens. Hiwa K's 2011 film captures a Kurdish protest, while Ahmet Öğüt's 2016–17 animation illustrates fatalities from teargas. Collectively, these pieces examine crowd behavior within the context of state control.
Key facts
- Stéphanie Lagarde created the 16-minute video Déploiements in 2018.
- Georges-Eugène Haussmann redesigned Paris boulevards in the 1850s and 60s to hinder demonstrations.
- A 2010 London student fee protest on Whitehall involved kettling for seven hours with 41 arrests.
- UK courts ruled kettling lawful in 2012, though Liberty opposed it in 2011.
- Tania Bruguera performed Tatlin's Whisper #5 at Tate Modern's Turbine Hall in 2008.
- Manolis D. Lemos's video dusk and dawn look just the same (riot tourism) from 2017 was shown at the New Museum Triennial.
- Hiwa K's 2011 film This Lemon Tastes of Apple documents a demonstration in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan.
- Ahmet Öğüt's United (2016–17) was commissioned for the Gwangju Biennale and depicts teargas deaths in Seoul and Diyarbakır.
Entities
Artists
- Stéphanie Lagarde
- Manolis D. Lemos
- Hiwa K
- Ahmet Öğüt
- Tania Bruguera
- Rabih Mroué
- Eric Hobsbawm
- Vaughan Bell
- Ennio Morricone
- Lee Han-yeol
- Enes Ata
- Georges-Eugène Haussmann
- Saddam Hussein
- Chun Doo-hwan
- Napoleon III
Institutions
- ArtReview
- New Museum Triennial
- Tate Modern
- Gwangju Biennale
- Liberty
- South African High Commission
- Lord Moon pub
Locations
- Paris
- France
- London
- England
- United Kingdom
- Whitehall
- Trafalgar Square
- Athens
- Greece
- Omonoia Square
- New York
- United States
- Sulaymaniyah
- Kurdistan
- Iraq
- Seoul
- South Korea
- Diyarbakır
- Turkey
- Gwangju