Searching for souvenirs, cultural identity in the digital realm
Roundtable
Saturday 14 October 2017 3 - 4.30pm
The General Assembly Room, Burlington House, Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly
£8, £5 concessions.
Jasper Johns: ‘Something Resembling Truth’
Hosted by RA Schools graduate Gery Georgieva, this roundtable will explore contemporary ideas of cultural identity in relation to our experience of materials in the physical and virtual worlds.
How are certain materials culturally loaded and what are the shifting concerns in using objects of cultural significance in the creation of new art work? How has the digital sphere influenced our access to and our perception of physical materials and does a new sense of "digital materiality" have an impact on how we imagine ourselves as individuals or collectives?
Creating lo-fi assemblages and film sets in her studio for performative to-camera improvisations, Gery Georgieva uses the immediacy of her own body as material to consider the construction of authenticity, taste and belonging. DIY glamour and an elaborate layering of references across costume, prop and set design create an ambiguous cultural vernacular. This pan-global aesthetic is rooted in pop music, showbiz and the folk traditions of her Bulgarian heritage. Through layers of digital appropriation and mainstream manipulation, Gery examines how we configure and reconfigure our cultural identities to seek personal empowerment.
Chaired by Gery Georgieva, this roundtable will engage with ideas around materiality, digital representation and the relationship this might have to cultural identity.
This event invites audiences to participate in a round-table discussion in the General Assembly Room. We encourage ticket holders to bring thoughts and perspectives to share with others and generate an informed debate with invited speakers