Jeremy Shaw

Five countries, five exhibitions: France, Germany, Estonia, Denmark, and now Australia. The latest iteration of Jeremy Shaw’s new venture arrives at Mona this winter.

We could begin by telling you that it’s a multi-channel video work depicting human groups performing abandoned, ritual behaviours: dancing, singing and other secular rites of movement. Or we could say it’s a kind of science fiction, a thought experiment of human belief systems in bloom and decline: imagine a far distant future in which humanity is in thrall to science and technology, and has forged a new faith expressed through gesture and body, from BMC therapy and tai chi to hardcore dancing and cybergothic choreography.

But what we really want to say is: here at Mona we like science and we like art, and we enjoy those rare moments when science-y art is not lifeless and didactic but instead invites us into a space of wonder, speculation and even (if you’ll indulge us) un-knowledge. We like not knowing things. Some of our best work begins with uncertainty rather than mastery of an idea, and shares that uncertainty—the messy human churn of doubt and grace, from which the proverbial crack of light may blaze with revelation—with those who care to pay attention.

Curated by Jarrod Rawlins

This commission is presented in Hobart with Dark Mofo, and is a co-commission by Mona and Dark Mofo, Hobart; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Swiss Institute, New York; and the Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt

Courtesy KÖNIG GALERIE Berlin | London | Seoul | Vienna

Header Image: Phase Shifting Index (video still), 2020, Jeremy Shaw
7-channel HD video installation with sound; duration 00:35:00
Image courtesy of Jeremy Shaw & KÖNIG Galerie, Berlin, London, Vienna, Seoul