Developed with artist Harold Offeh, residency 29 For real? addresses ideas of authenticity and identity in art and society.
Contemporary media are permeated by misleading content that serves motives of financial and personal gain. Within this economy, authenticity – the quality of being real, genuine or true – carries a high premium. Influencers trade on their authenticity to sell their followers a model of what and how to be. Fake news spreads uncertainty and lies, and erodes trust. Politicians seesaw on policies in pursuit of public favour. By contrast, art supposedly exists outside of the need for truth or purpose – so what is the place of authenticity in the context or art today?
