Below is the press release for my solo show at the CHRC at Goldsmiths College, that runs from the 6th Sept- 6th October 2011…
‘REDIRECTION and NETWORK TIMEOUT’ is a solo exhibition by Jenny Steele at the Constance Howard Centre, Goldsmiths, from the 6th September until 6th October 2011.
Jenny Steele will showcase works from her recent research residency at the 501 Artspace, Chongqing, China, for the first time to a UK audience. Steele’s project at 501 Artspace (1st June- 12th July 2011) researched into how locals navigate physical and digital space, particularly exploring issues of governmental censorship and control. She also investigated how ancient Ming Dynasty walled city layouts reflected the current hierarchical control imposed online by the government of the People’s Republic of China, continuing to control inhabitant’s movements in both digital and physical space. Within the PRC, Western social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, YouTube and Posterous are banned, as well as numerous sites that are deemed with content that is sexual, provocative or challenging the PRC government. When a user tries to access these sites, they are redirected to a previous page, or a screen flashes up that tells the ‘netizen’ that the network has ‘timed out’. Subsequently, Chinese users are kept separate from a large majority of the supposedly libertarian internet, and they have set up their own versions of social networking sites for Fanfou (Twitter), Renren (Facebook) and QQ (Twitter, Facebook and MSN hybrid). The aforementioned networks are also governed by PRC officials, removing posts and users that are inappropriate. This process of ‘redirection and network timeout’ divides PRC online users, from all other international users, reflecting the countries historical approach to town planning that controls movement.
Through drawing, wood block printmaking, and site specific installations in Chongqing, Jenny Steele sought to map out and chart movements, and redirection, in physical and digital space, by referencing digital interfaces, historical architecture and town planning. For this exhibition at the CHRC, Jenny Steele presents drawings and woodblock prints, also displaying photographs of site-specific installations, and an architectural model of her installation, ‘Attempts to enter the Forbidden City’.
The project ‘REDIRECTION and NETWORK TIMEOUT’, at 501 Artspace, Chongqing, was organised in association with the Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester, and funded by Grants for the Arts, Arts Council England. Jenny Steele is an artist, researcher, lecturer, and Goldsmiths alumni (MFA Textiles 2007). She has exhibited widely in the UK, as well as within China, Japan and USA.
Upcoming events include a presentation at RE-WIRE Conference at FACT, Liverpool (28th Sept 2011), and MULTIPLE OCCUPANCY, a 3-person exhibition at Hatch Space, London (19th- 29th October 2011). Jenny Steele is currently based at Rogue Studios, Manchester.
‘REDIRECTION and NETWORK TIMEOUT’ opens at the Constance Howard Research Centre on the 6th September 2011 and runs until the 6th October 2011.
PLEASE NOTE THE CENTRE IS ONLY OPEN TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS, 10AM UNTIL 4.30PM.
Constance Howard Centre for Textiles Goldsmiths, University of London Deptford Town Hall Building (Basement) New Cross Road, London SE14 6AF Telephone: +44(0)20 7717 2210
For further information on the project, please visit the ‘REDIRECTION and NETWORK TIMEOUT’ a-n Artists Talking blog – www.a-n.co.uk/p/1266895.
For press enquiries, and any other queries, please contact – [email protected].
