School of Visual Arts (SVA) presents Non-Sovereign Poetics, an exhibition of thesis work by the MFA Fine Arts class of 2024, curated by Andrew Paul Woolbright and organized by Isabelle Schipper. The exhibition will be on view from Thursday, July 25, through Saturday, August 10.

Please join us for a kenopsia, a performance by Tyson Houseman, at 5:30 pm, followed directly by the opening reception for Non-Sovereign Poetics from 6:00 — 8:00 pm.

“Non-Sovereign poetics are anti-leviathan,” says Woolbright of the exhibition. “They are anti-canon, anti-reverence, anti-continuance. They are light but sharp—the shape of a rock in a shoe or the space in between the words of oral histories. They are the quick bounce-back of the jester’s privilege, the rupture felt from feedback loops and forms repeating until they are abolished. They choose liveness and all that it risks over the dead encounters of static entities. They project images culled from internet subcultures over the storage lockers of museums. They do all of this out of necessity and the knowledge that each new idyll will be hard-won. They do all of this from the memory of what has already been lost and the imaginary of what can hopefully be gained.”

Presenting work by Lulu Luyao Chang, Yuanjie Chen, Jon Copes, Jamie Gustavson, Erin Hayde, Seraphin Hedges, Greg Herbowy, Tyson Houseman, Ahyun Jeon, Bitna Jung, Hongbin Kim, Yong Eun May Kwon, Orange Li, Tina Mitchell, Jusun Jessie Seo, Minji Seo, Giorgi Shalikashvili, Kun Kyung Sok, Guy Nechmad Stern, Al Svoboda, Emily Theis, Zoe Toscano, Luis Valenzuela, Xiaoxiao Wu, Shawn Xiao, Yi Xu, Zeyu Xue and Ethan Zhao.

The exhibition will feature two performances. kenopsia, a live video performance by Tyson Houseman, will take place in the gallery on Thursday, July 25, 5:30 — 6:00 pm. Job Search, a multimedia performance by Jon Copes, will be presented live in the gallery and online via Zoom on Saturday, August 3, 1:00 — 3:00 pm.

kenopsia is a live video performance by Tyson Houseman utilizing reactive video feedback loops and live audio to culminate in the recording and production of a looped multi-channel video installation that is filmed, edited, and scored live in the SVA Chelsea Gallery during the performance. The piece draws from elements of Tyson’s thesis performance The Six Seasons, a full-length live video opera that investigates Indigenous notions of non-linear time and connections to land in regards to deep time.

Job Search is a multimedia performance by Jon Copes presented live at SVA Chelsea Gallery and online via Zoom for the MFA Fine Arts thesis exhibition “Non-Sovereign Poetics.” Using a framework for performance developed during his thesis Aesthetics of Research, Jon will use images and sounds from his archive, online job listings, and live audio to look forward to life post academia—questioning what it means to work, attempting to determine the value of “experience” and applying for jobs.

The SVA Chelsea Gallery is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, Mondays by appointment, and closed on Sundays. It is fully accessible by wheelchair.

Time: 5:30-8:00 pm EST

Free!

Registration