Archive Mode. Call Big Art Show 2023 ended on 02/06/2023, 16:30. Call settings are read only. See Current Open Calls
CONSENT EVENT is a participatory artwork following in the fluxus tradition of happenings and text ‘event scores’. the work comprises a game-like 'event' following an original score which becomes activated through group negotiation and the building of socio-political structures. Taking inspiration from John Locke’s Two Treatise of Government, which presents the theory that government is permitted to exist via a social contract between a governing body and its citizens, CONSENT EVENT follows Locke’s logic to posit whether borders and other sites of regulated human movement similarly exist through an implicit consent, and questions who might be implicated in their surrounding power structures.
The visual presentation of the work consists of one or more lines and some visual display of the score, both left intentionally unspecified by the score so as to make the work adaptable to a variety of contexts and settings. in previous displays, this has manifested as a single line made from red vinyl tape, applied vertically floor-to-ceiling and across the floor in a single strip, dividing the space in two; the text has been shown as two handprinted A5 cards hung on two opposing walls next to the line like title placards.
The core play mechanic of the 'game' (event) consists of participants crossing the line (or lines). To cross a line, permission must be given, but the source of permission is left intentionally ambiguous. the game therefore becomes a process of collectively forming, interrogating, and revising systems of authority through the rules of the score. Additionally, participants are invited to alter or remove the line(s).
The artwork is time variable. It starts from the moment the text is first read. It ends through three tasked conditions: when participants unanimously agree to uphold unchallenged the authority structures they've collectively devised, to collectively abolish and refuse any authority structures, or to destroy all lines permanently rendering authority or lack-thereof inconsequential.
