Manifest Dismantling is a two-night screening of experimental moving image works organized by Mobius Artists Margaret Bellafiore and EL Putnam taking place at the Cyberarts Gallery in Jamaica Plain (150 Greet Street, Orange Line T Station) Boston on Thursday, October 31 and Friday, November 1 2019, doors open at 6 pm, with suggested donation between $5-$10 or whatever you can afford.
Manifest Dismantling includes short experimental moving image works by artists living, working, or are from either the United States or Ireland. Though far apart in distance, the citizens of both countries share serious consequences from this “dismantling.” Presented over the course of two evenings, with the first night dedicated to Climate Collapse and second night relating to Borders, these works introduce creative means of engaging with our current states of crisis, introducing novel perspectives as we craft new methods of collective understanding and working together in a time of panic.
During the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution paved the way for our current patterns of consumption, which in turn have brought us to the brink of climate collapse in the 21st century. Also during this time, modern nations were stabilizing and fortifying their borders as exclusionary markers of travel and trade, informing our present patterns of mobility. What at the time appeared to be acts of progress were actually gestures of destruction.
In her 2019 book How to Do Nothing, artist Jenny Odell uses the phrase “manifest dismantling” to describe activities that counter these patterns and their remnants of destruction: “I am interested in manifest dismantling as a form of purposiveness bound up with remediation, something that requires us to give up the idea that progress can only face forward blindly. It provides a new direction for our work ethic.” In a time of climate crisis and violent borders, we believe art is a creative activity that enables such dismantling.
Mobius (est. 1977) is a non-profit, tax-exempt, artist-run organization, whose mission is to generate, shape and test experimental art. The members of the organization believe an effective strategy for supporting this art is to establish grounds that build relationships among fellow artists. Mobius is committed to structuring environments that foster projects incorporating a wide range of disciplines. This approach sets in motion situations where the artist’s impact can be seen locally, nationally and internationally.
Mobius is funded in part by a grant from the Oedipus Foundation; by an award for artistic excellence from the Tanne Foundation; with support provided by the Metabolic Studio, and generous private support.