Exploring the intersection of art and knowledge in times of crisis

This past Saturday, the Framer Framed gallery in East Amsterdam opened the doors to the public for their new exhibition “Really? Art and Knowledge in Time of Crisis,” curated by Mi You and David Garcia. This collection features interdisciplinary artists whose work centres around the combination of knowledge and politics. 

The exhibition emerges as a response to the era of radical uncertainty and unpredictable risks that have decreased public trust in certain institutions which have always been considered trustworthy. It aims to test the boundaries of evidence and plant some doubt in the viewers’ minds on how we access and process knowledge and evidence. 
Based on research, the exhibition presents a movement of artists who are aiming to address the knowledge crisis. Forensic methods and data analysis are used, alongside other forms of multivisual investigation. It is then exposed with a variety of installations, ranging from CGI videos, live stream installations, to vibrations through water. 

Based on research, the exhibition presents a movement of artists who are aiming to address the knowledge crisis

The collection presents a tone of strong resistance by bringing focus to current world crises, such as Israel-Palestine and Climate Change. The Israel-Palestine conflict is represented in a mixed media installation showcasing the work of RIWAQ, which aims to repair and restore Palestinian architecture. This not only entails a physical reparation, but it recognises the people, the buildings and its existence. Climate change and the battle towards an increase in awareness through proof and decrease of CO2 is investigated and exposed in a series of historical pieces of evidence. This evidence proves the economic and political influence of the fossil fuel industry since 1912, and It evokes the question of how climate change is still up for debate. 

The use of new and world-changing technology, AI, is also scrutinised. With the use of an interactive facial recognition system, the artist highlights some of the problems that arise when law enforcement agencies make use of this technology. Interactive facial recognition systems can produce false positives that lead to erroneous results, which can have heavy consequences on decision-making processes. An interactive piece, allows the visitor to test how this system would identify them inaccurately. 

As a whole, the exhibition all stands on a diabolical frame, quite literally, where each spike is crowned by the overarching themes that surround the whole exhibition. This includes significantly paired words like “weaponising ignorance”, “politicising knowledge” and “commodifying doubt”. 

“Really?” underscores the need for action-oriented thinking while acknowledging that knowledge has become both easy to access and fragmented, understood and presented differently according to the reality that is lived in. The exhibition encourages validating facts in the public domain, exposing the underlying interest in shared information, and learning to cope with the unknown.

The exhibition features works by artists Paolo Cirio, Anna Engelhardt and Mark Cinkevich, Jennifer Gradecki and Derek Curry, Ho Tzu Nyen, Zheng Mahler, RIWAQ, and UKRAiNATV. 

As a good way to spend your afternoon and come out with lingering doubts about your idea of knowledge, the exhibition is open until the 29th of September. If you find yourself roaming east Amsterdam on a rainy day or are just ready to create some action-oriented thinking, it is worth a visit.