Extraction: Earth, Ashes, Dust
Supercollider Art
Torrance Art Museum, Main Gallery
April 2 - May 14, 2022
SUPERCOLLIDER presents EXTRACTION: Earth, Ashes, Dust, an exhibition that examines the overarching power structures that dictate methods of removal as they relate to cultural, natural, and ecological capital. Artists challenge notions of the map, explore both healed and broken landscapes, and embody methods of extraction and regeneration. Using a range of media, the works excavate systems that disrupt the autonomy of bodies (human and more-than-human), and also consider the historical implications of extractive practices across industries and geographies.
Works by Elena Soterakis, Beatriz Jaramillo and Matthew Brandt consider the landscape as a site of slow violence. Sarah E. Jenkins, Zane Griffin Talley Cooper, and Katie Gressitt-Diaz reflect on the human aspects of resource extraction, focusing on the hidden labor of major industries. Romi Ron Morrison, Treva Ellison, and Ignacio Perez Meruane investigate the intricate ties between forms of extraction, highlighting the integrated nature of resources, bodies, and cultures. Noa Kaplan, Kim Abeles, and Julie Weitz find inspiration in the detritus of progress and collapse.
This constellation of artistic expressions uniquely considers the many facets of late-stage capitalism, drawing connections between disparate entities–land, body, community–that expire in the pursuit of progress, the excitement of the new, and the movement of dominating forces towards mechanisms of control and erasure. These works express how hope exists in our rituals, our humanity, and the promise of liberation–for ourselves, the earth, and our communities.
Participating Artists: Kim Abeles, Matthew Brandt, Treva Ellison, Zane Griffin Talley Cooper, Katie Gressitt-Diaz, Beatriz Jaramillo, Sarah E. Jenkins, Noa Kaplan, Romi Morrison, Ignacio Perez Meruane, Elena Soterakis, and Julie Weitz. Curated by Isabel Beavers + Sharon Levy.