Oliver Ressler – Catastrophe Bonds
A Multi-Site exhibition at St. Norbert College & University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, February 26 – March 29, 2018
Oliver Ressler: Catastrophe Bonds, the first survey of Oliver Ressler‘s work in the United States, brought together a multi-site exhibition and associated public programs at St. Norbert College and the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, exploring the intersections of art, politics, economics, and social activism. Organized as a collaborative project between the two institutions through the International Visiting Scholars Program, the exhibition introduced audiences to the work of Vienna-based artist Oliver Ressler, whose installations and films investigate capitalism, political power, grassroots democracy, migration, and social resistance.
At St. Norbert College, works presented in the Baer, Godschalx, and Media Space Galleries included Alternative Economics, Alternative Societies (2003–2008), a 16-channel video installation examining alternatives to capitalist economic and social systems; Fly Democracy (2007), an installation drawing parallels between the distribution of political messaging and U.S. military leaflet drops in Iraq and Afghanistan; and Emergency Turned Upside Down (2016), a film addressing the migration of Syrian and Middle Eastern refugees to Europe and challenging viewers to reconsider the meaning of emergency in the context of forced displacement and war. The four-channel video installation Everything’s Coming Together While Everything’s Falling Apart (2016–2017) was exhibited in the Lawton Gallery at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. The intsallation refers to a situation in which all the technology needed to end the age of fossil fuel already exists, the question is if there is the political will for change.
The exhibition was accompanied by public programs designed to foster dialogue about the relationship between artistic practice, social action, and democratic participation. The Norman Miller Center for Peace, Justice & Public Understanding sponsored a panel discussion, Art, Social Action and Grassroots Democracy, featuring Ressler at St. Norbert College. The event was followed by an exhibition reception and a special opening-night screening of The Right of Passage in the Bush Art Center Galleries. Together, the exhibitions and public programs gave students and community members opportunities to engage with Ressler’s work and consider how art can illuminate political and economic structures, challenge dominant narratives, and contribute to collective action.
Exhibition Catalog with contributions by Jennifer A. González and Marc James Léger: Oliver Ressler Catastrophe Bonds
Arts & International Affairs Journal: Oliver Ressler: Catastrophe Bonds
Exhibition Installation Images
