Off the Radar at Visual Arts Gallery University of California
Curated by Jane de Almeida, the exhibition showcases artworks of ten artists as a starting point for an investigation process on the subject of organizational systems off the RADAR, understood in a broad sense.
The exhibition Off the Radar is a result of a decade long collaboration between artists and researchers from LabCine (Laboratory of Cinematic Arts) based at Mackenzie Presbyterian University, São Paulo, and the Interdisciplinary Computing and the Arts (ICAM) and Speculative Design Majors from UC San Diego (UCSD). Curated by Jane de Almeida, the exhibition showcases artworks of ten artists as a starting point for a investigation process on the subject of organizational systems off the RADAR, understood in a broad sense.
Considering forms of organization outside of detectable traditional waves, the Off the Radar exhibition reflects on the conditions of existence and organizations that are not easily detected by the radar of institutionality, legitimacy and visibility. RADAR detection systems use radio waves to determine the range, angle, or speed of objects, consisting of transmitters producing electromagnetic waves in the radio or microwave spectrum, and/or passively receiving such emissions via antenna. Radars started being developed just before the World War II, and the term radar was coined in 1940 by the United States Navy as acronym for RAdio Detection And Ranging. Modern uses of radar are highly diverse, including air and ground traffic control, astronomy, air defense, anti-missile, marine radars, aircraft anti-collision, ocean surveillance, outer space surveillance and meteorological precipitation monitoring, as well as guided missile tracking and radar of controlled range for surveillance. High-tech radars are associated with digital signal processing, machine learning and are capable of extracting useful information from literally complex detections.
Since then, common uses of being "on the radar" means participating in systems by avoiding being ignored and averting the fall into obscurity and disappearance from public view. In the cultural, social and political realms, for example, to be kept on the radar can be crucial to be established in the globalized society. Therefore, to be captured by the radar is to be submitted to logic and rules of institutional organizations such as media, corporation, government, market and so on. Considering systems that are organized outside the radar spectrum, artists are encouraged to speculate on forms of constitution, to imagine associations, and to think on structures organized outside or deliberately hidden from radars. After meetings and dialogues on the subject, new works will be presented in São Paulo in 2019, along with a series of lectures.
Artists: Amanda Areias (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Alexandre Sonego (Campinas, Brazil), Leandro Oliveira (São Paulo, Brazil) Mateus Guzzo (Brazilian, San Diego based), Mateus Teixeira (São Paulo, Brazil), Brett Stalbaum (United States), Rebecca Zhao (Chinese, San Diego based), Vic von Poser (Brazilian, London based), and special participation of Fernando and Humberto Campana (São Paulo, Brazil).
