Friday, June 12, 16:00–17:00
Artist and curator Anton Vidokle and philosopher Boris Groys will discuss Russian Cosmism, a unique phenomenon that came to life in the mid-19th century and combined religious, philosophical, and aesthetic theories deriving from the writings of the Russian Orthodox Christian philosopher Nikolai Fyodorov. Vidokle’s recent film This is Cosmos launches a trilogy inspired by the ideas of Russian Cosmism, and this summer, Garage in collaboration with Ad Marginem Press will publish an anthology on the subject compiled by Boris Groys.
Anton Vidokle was born in Moscow and currently lives and works between New York and Berlin. His work has been exhibited internationally at Documenta 13, the Venice Biennale, the Lyon Biennial and at Tate Modern, among others. As a founder of e-flux, he has produced the do it: Utopia Station poster project and organized An Image Bank for Everyday Revolutionary Life, as well as Martha Rosler Library and unitednationsplaza. Vidokle is co-editor of e-flux journal along with Julieta Aranda and Brian Kuan Wood. Most recently, Vidokle has exhibited his science-fiction film 2084 (with Pelin Tan) at the Montreal Biennale, as well as This is Cosmos (2014) at the Berlinale International Film Festival, the Shanghai Biennale, and Witte de With in Rotterdam.
Boris Groys is a philosopher and cultural theoretician. He is Global Distinguished Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at New York University and Senior Research Fellow at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design. During the 1970s, he published articles on philosophy and theory in samizdat journals and participated in seminars on underground art in closed-circle events.
Kate Fowle is chief curator at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow and director-at-large of Independent Curators International (ICI) in New York. From 2009 to 2013, she was the executive director of ICI. Previously, she was the inaugural international curator at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing (2007–2008) and chair of the Master’s Program in Curatorial Practice at California College of the Arts in San Francisco, which she co-founded in 2002. Before moving to the USA, Fowle was co-director of Smith + Fowle in London, and from 1994 to 1996 she was curator at the Towner Art Gallery and Museum in Eastbourne, East Sussex.
