The second part of the exhibition Global Vision: New Art from the ’90s, continues to explore questions of globalization, trans-nationalism, multi-culturalism, and fragmentary diasporic identities. The exhibition features a number of impressive, large scale installation works shown for the first time in Greece, such as Montien Boonma’s House of Hope (1996-1997), a shrine-like structure made out of 1,668 strands of hanging herbal beads; Cai Guo Qiang’s The Dragon Has Arrived (1997), a dramatic hanging tower made out of the remains of a shipwreck exhibited at last year’s Venice Biennale; Chen Zhen’s Daily Incantations (1996), a dominating structure comprised of Chinese chamber pots and obsolete electronic equipment. Nari Ward takes over the exhibition space to recreate Hunger Cradle (1996), a psychologically charged installation made with yarn and discarded objects that literally engulfs the viewer. In her painstakingly crafted mural Veil ‘n’ Trail (1997), Shahzia Sikander draws on her knowledge of Indian and Pakistani miniatures to examine issues about female identity, orientalism, and cultural stereotyping. Demanding the viewer’s interaction, what counts in these works is the experience of a situation rather than an object.
Johan Grimonprez’ film dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y (1997), which caused a stir at last year’s Documenta X, will be screened in the video projection room. The film is a ‘70s style satirical chronicle of the history of worldwide airplane hijackings based on a mixture of archival footage, personal home movie imagery, and airline safety films. It explores media politics and the fascination for catastrophe culture while questioning the role of the artist in society today.
The artists in Global Vision acknowledge the world’s diversity while at the same time affirming the importance of the local in an effort to explore the dissonances that underlie the new global reality.
