Slow Drift(s) Chapter 2: Larry Achiampong & David Blandy
The Balcony
Nieuwe Molstraat 14-A2
The Hague, The Netherlands
OPENING Friday NOV.29, 19:00 - 23:00
NOV.29.—FEB.15.2025
Fri-Sat: 13:00-18:00
Mon-Thu by appointment
Curated by Abril Cisneros and Valentino Russo in collaboration with Arthur Cordier, Ariane Toussaint, and Marica Kolcheva
Larry Achiampong (1984, GH/UK) and David Blandy (1976/UK) have developed a video-based collaborative practice exploring the politics of race, class and the post-colonial condition. The second chapter of Slow Drift(s) presents their Finding Fanon trilogy, a body of work departing from the lost plays of Martinican philosopher and psychiatrist Frantz Fanon (1925-1961).
In addition to traditional filmmaking, the artists resort to more unconventional techniques for video-making such as recording characters inside popular free-roaming open world video games. The latter has allowed them to harness the constructedness of virtual space as a metaphor for societal barriers. Traversing Fanon’s musings with personal experiences, the series demonstrates the contemporary relevance of 20th-century concerns with colonial attitudes and sketches their implications in the context of the information age.
About Slow Drift(s)
In our current visual landscape, the fruition of (moving) images proceeds at an ever-growing rate. What was once a prohibitively expensive high-end technology for filmic production now becomes increasingly cheaper and user-friendly, but at the same time constantly stands at the edge of obsolescence. Slow Drift(s) presents the work of video artists whose practice is rooted in a critical approach toward technologies of image production. From thermal cameras to surveillance systems, from YouTube vlogs to video games and military technologies, these artists look for flaws in a pixel-perfect system.
Expanding the defined boundaries of the exhibition as a single event, we have invited film collective First Cut (Cyan Bae, Hattie Wade and Cristina Lavosi) to develop a screening program responding to Achiampong & Blandy’s selected works.
About The Balcony
This exhibition is curated by Abril Cisneros and Valentino Russo in collaboration with Arthur Cordier, Ariane Toussaint, and Marica Kolcheva. The team warmly thanks the artists for their trust, Stefan Bandalac (SBAE) for the technical partnership, and STAATSDUET for the graphic identity. All works are courtesy of the artists and Electronic Arts Intermix.
Since March 2018, The Balcony curates exhibitions supporting the presentation of upcoming practices with a focus on alternative formats of display, keen on collaborations and cross-generational presentations. Our program is made possible by the Mondriaan Fonds Kunstenaars Honorarium, Erfgoed Starter, and Stroom Den Haag. Yet, members of the initiative contribute to the program on a freelance and often voluntary basis. Your support is appreciated.