New Museum's 2015 Triennial 'Surround Audience' Critiques Digital Age Commodification
The New Museum's third triennial exhibition, 'Surround Audience', curated by Lauren Cornell and Ryan Trecartin in 2015, presented early-career artists exploring digital age subjectivities. Works like Li Liao's 'Consumption' documented his labor at Foxconn's Shenzhen factory to purchase an iPad Mini, while DIS collective's 'The Island (KEN)' featured a Dornbracht-brand kitchen-bathroom installation for performances. Casey Jane Ellison's 'Touching the Art' parody talk show aired on Ovation TV and YouTube, mediating art and entertainment. Juliana Huxtable appeared in Frank Benson's sculpture 'Juliana' facing Ed Atkins's video 'Happy Birthday!!', with themes of retro-cyborg bodies. Antoine Catala collaborated with advertising firm Droga5 on 'Distant Feel', an empathy meme sculpture of coral. Renaud Jerez, Lisa Holzer, Aleksandra Domanović, Shreyas Karle, Josh Kline, and Onejoon Che contributed installations addressing global inequities, Hindu nationalism, and North Korean influence in Africa. The exhibition highlighted contradictions between art, commerce, and political critique without delivering deep insight, generating affective dissonance through juxtaposed works.
Key facts
- The New Museum's third triennial 'Surround Audience' opened in 2015.
- Curators were Lauren Cornell and artist Ryan Trecartin.
- Li Liao's 'Consumption' involved factory work at Foxconn in Shenzhen to buy an iPad Mini.
- DIS collective created 'The Island (KEN)' with Dornbracht sponsorship.
- Casey Jane Ellison's 'Touching the Art' aired on Ovation TV and YouTube.
- Antoine Catala collaborated with Droga5 advertising firm on 'Distant Feel'.
- Juliana Huxtable was depicted in Frank Benson's sculpture 'Juliana'.
- Onejoon Che documented North Korean influence on monuments in Namibia, Senegal, and Botswana.
Entities
Artists
- Casey Jane Ellison
- Renaud Jerez
- Lisa Holzer
- Li Liao
- DIS artist collective
- Juliana Huxtable
- Frank Benson
- Ed Atkins
- Firenze Lai
- Aleksandra Domanović
- Shreyas Karle
- Josh Kline
- Onejoon Che
- Antoine Catala
- Ryan Trecartin
- Lauren Cornell
- Sarah O'Keeffe
- Chus Martínez
Institutions
- New Museum
- Ovation TV
- YouTube
- Foxconn
- Dornbracht
- Droga5
- ArtReview
Locations
- New York
- United States
- Shenzhen
- China
- India
- Namibia
- Senegal
- Botswana
- North Korea
- Manhattan