How we won the war on socialism at proof of work, Schinkel Pavillon Berlin September 2018

Lloyd, Wayne

Abstract

Exhibited in the John Moores 22 Painting Prize, the work How We Won The War On Socialism (1) was originally published in Matthew Colling’s book Art Crazy Nation (2). The drips and blobs of an abstract painting are supplemented by descriptions, such as ‘red’ and ‘directional strokes’. The over-riding acrylic letters in unequivocal black vinyl, read: How We Won The War On Socialism. The text becomes a recognisable form among the unrecognisable forms, it disrupts the intuitive cognition associated with the unconditioned choices of abstract art and proposes that the desription of the painting is as much of the work as the drips and blobs.

In September 2018 the painting was included in Proof of Work, an exhibition at the Schinkel Pavillon Berlin. Curated by the artist Simon Denny (NZ 2015 Venice Bienale) as an outcome of dialogues with Distributed Gallery, Harm Van Der Dorpel, Sarah Hamerman and Sam Hart Kei Kreutler, Aude Launay and Anna-Lisa Scherfose.(3)

The work was selected as an early example of the reconfiguring of concepts, the restructuring of political and cultural institutions associated with the potential of Blockchain technology. It promotes a 'decentralisation of power similar to Denny's curatorial methods...the components are essentially tracked by the artist, like transactions in a blockchain' (4). This exhibition examines the technology’s ‘significance for artists and cultural producers in terms of distribution, economics and computation' (5). __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1) How We Won The War On Socialism (2002) Oil & Acrylic on Canvas______
2) Collings, M (2001). Art Crazy Nation. (1 ed.). UK: 21 Publishing______
3) A catalogue written by Denny is available here: http://www.launayau.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ProofOfWork.pdf______
4)Bergmann, S 2018. Cryptocurrency-Inspired Art at Schinkel Pavillon. [online]. [15 February 2019] Available from http://www.berlinartlink.com/2018/09/25/cryptocurrency-inspired-art-at-schinkel-pavillon/______
5) Castro, A. 2018. Proof of Work Schinkel Pavillon Berlin. [Online]. [15 February 2019]. Available from: http://esse.ca/en/proof-work-schinkel-pavillon-berlin

• Exhibition Performance Type: Exhibition
• Conference Name: Proof Of Work
• Start Date: Sep 8, 2018
• End Date: Dec 20, 2018
• Keywords: art, blockchain, proof-of-work, cryptocurrency, decentralised, transaction, painting
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/845740
• Related Public URLs: https://www.schinkelpavillon.de/exhibition/curated-by-simon-denny-in-dialogue-with-distributed-gallery-harm-van-den-dorpel-sarah-hamerman-and-sam-hart-kei-kreutler-and-aude-launay/; https://artmap.com/schinkelpavillon/exhibition/proof-of-work-2018?print=do
• Additional Information: Additional Information : Review: http://moussemagazine.it/proof-work-schinkel-pavillon-berlin/