(Fortune) Telling. (Zombie) Coding. (Gelatin) Catwalking.

September 13–15, 2022

Exhibition by RTRU (Elizaveta Shneyderman, Zane Onckule) at Smack Mellon in Brooklyn, NY

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Smack Mellon is pleased to host (Fortune) Telling. (Zombie) Coding. (Gelatin) Catwalking, presented by Riga Tecnoculture Research Unit (RTRU), a performative laboratory and open studio-style public program conceived by all woman-identifying artists from the Baltics: Darja Popolitova (Tallinn), Elza Sīle (Zurich/Riga), and Anastasia Sosunova (Vilnius).

The program explores animatic and performative apparatuses across Baltic countries by showcasing three distinct artistic practices united by their shared investigation of newly unleashed cultural and aesthetic currents in the Post-Soviet era. Over the course of several days, a systematic accrual of Sīle’s work (created in collaboration with numerous contributors) will result in a floor-based installation and catwalk, while Sosunova’s display will be activated by the artist zombie-lecturing on the links between authority, nostalgia, and magical thinking, to be concluded with Popolitova’s speculative 3D jewelry workshop presented by witch Seraphita. Taken together, (Fortune) Telling. (Zombie) Coding. (Gelatin) Catwalking charts how the internal cultural politics of the Baltics—and “Eastern Europe” more broadly—has historically opted to differentiate itself from the global Western Other.

Riga Technoculture Research Unit (RTRU) is a new platform curated by Elizaveta Shneyderman (New York) and Zane Onckule (Riga) under the commission of Kim? Contemporary Centre in Riga (www.kim.lv). Part research journal, part art and writing publisher, part hub for developments in emerging media, RTRU brings an interdisciplinary and technicity-centered approach to the status quo of contemporary art programming. (Fortune) Telling. (Zombie) Coding. (Gelatin) Catwalking is organized by Kim? Contemporary Art Centre (Riga) in partnership with Temnikova & Kasela Gallery (Tallinn), Artnews (Vilnius), Echo Gone Wrong (Vilnius), and Rupert (Vilnius).

Open September 13-15, 12-6PM

Thursday, September 15:
6:30-7:30PM: Performative workshop by Darja Popolitova
7:30-8:30PM: Lecture-performance by Anastasia Sosunova
8:30-11:00PM: Catwalk and DJ set featuring Elza Sīle, BMWAudi, nihiti / Viktor Timofeev

Artists:
Darja Popolitova
Elza Sīle
Anastasia Sosunova
with ASTROH00D, Rigonda, SkaZka, Selini Demetriou, mekssa.go, Amos Angeles, The Surveyor, and Viktor Timofeev

Press: