Opening Reception: 8:00pm, May 25
Artist Talk: 2:00pm, June 16
Curated by: Brian McBay

221A Artist Run Centre is pleased to present What a Drag, a solo exhibition of new work by Vancouver-based artist Erdem Taşdelen that examines the role of language in the making of subjectivity. In this series of works, Taşdelen transcribes camp performative enunciations into texts made of thousands of hand-stitched sequins. When read, the flamboyant visual aesthetic speaks of the grandly wigged and dazzling acts of drag without necessitating an actual recital. This proposes a new, powerful capacity for drag performance, in which a physical act is transformed into an image act.

However, these concise, static word-marks still call for the performative, as it is necessary that in order to really read the work, one must enounce it with the right modulation and intonation, if at least in their own head. In an endless loop, Taşdelen transforms the performance of drag into a text piece, only to have it re-performed by its readers. It is through this reiterative performance, and through the labourious manual process of hand stitching that Taşdelen draws a parallel between the repetition of language and the construction and acquisition of gender roles.

At the same time, the spectacular quality of the hand-written text resembles something to be used in advertising, for it is not uncommon that graphic designers appropriate traits of a cultural group to sell a product. But Taşdelen leaves out a basic principal of advertising where once the attention of the viewer is secured it becomes necessary to define a further action, a product to sell, or a number to call. His series deprives thirsty window shoppers, delivering an enticing vernacular of consumption and entertainment with no redeeming message, second act or way to buy in. Instead, Taşdelen’s work only sells itself as a trademark, a representative icon of drag culture, and in doing so, demonstrates how the use of such visual communication in the making of subjectivity is already implicated in the act of consumption and the selling of subjectivity.

What a Drag is accompanied by Convictions, an artist-book produced by Erdem Taşdelen in conjunction with designer Mathew Arthur that is made up of a series of notations that remark various day-to-day experiences that inform queer subjectivity. The project also includes a long format inter-view between Magnolia Pauker and the artist, transcribed and available online during the exhibition, speaking to the artist’s practice and methodologies.

Magnolia Pauker is an educator, writer, and interviewer based in Vancouver, Canada. Her practice takes up the interview as a model for critical engagement, knowledge production and pedagogy. She teaches at the Emily Carr University of Art + Design, is associate editor at Fillip Magazine and Fellow at The European Graduate School where she is writing her dissertation under the direction of Avital Ronell. Her forthcoming book is titled Inter-view: Revolution Is Out Of Order.

221A is pleased to present Translation Services, a publication and three-part exhibition that brings together international artists Hankil Ryu (Korea), Jarrod Sanderson (UK), Andrea Francke (UK) and Jackson Lam (UK) to explore and expose the ways in which translation modifies meaning, privileging or suppressing forms of knowledge.

Translation, derivative of the Latin word translatio meaning “to carry across”, implies a bridge or journey. The etymology of this word reveals the potential for something to slip or drop along the way – an imperfect path from source to target. Therefore, translation has always been a daunting task that paradoxically aids communication but inevitably obscures meaning. Through text, video and sound, Translation Services engages with the inadequacy of translation and its subsequent implications within Vancouver’s culturally diverse context.

Part 1: Sept 8 – 23, Hankil Ryu, Description for Other Things
7:00pm, Sept 7 – Talk & Performance (Swarm)
Hankil Ryu, artist and musician, founded The Manual Publishing, an organization that hosts improvisational sound performance and experimental collaborative projects. In his recent performance “Description for other things”, Ryu brings out a typewriter as his instrument. While he is typing, the motor hits various objects he set up on the stage that creates sound. Ryu intends to design the sound through sending out his writing. This reverse process of transcription inexplicably exposes the frustration of communication and the absurdity of translation. Ryu’s performance will be audio documented and played in gallery for the duration of the exhibition.

Part 2: Sept 28 – Oct 14, Jarrod Sanderson, What difference between me and you
10:00pm, Oct 13 – Reception & The Piracy Project reading room
Sanderson’s film “What difference between me and you?” addresses issues around communication by reflecting on British English, and the city of London as historically Anglo-centric. Motivated from his background of anthropology, Sanderson filmed interviews with international art students in London. The questions focus on the participants’ artistic ambition, however, rather than concentrating on the content of conversation, Sanderson’s voice keeps correcting grammatical mistakes in their English. During the exhibition, Sanderson’s film will be looped in the gallery front window with outdoor speakers – enticing Chinatown pedestrians who have likely shared a similar experience of being ‘corrected’.

Part 3: Oct 19 – Nov 4, Andrea Francke and Jackson Lam, Please Translate
7:00pm, Oct 19 – Talk & Reception
Please Translate explores how book piracy has been used as a tool for political expression and freedom of speech. It focus on copyright issues in relation to the circulation of unauthorized translations. The project aims to give a historical context of the practice and also provide a working space for the development of new pirate translations. The project is developed by Andrea Francke and Jackson Lam. As part of Institutions by Artists, Francke will speak about The Piracy Project, an international publishing and exhibition project in partnership with AND Publishing.