Critical Writing Index

[retreat]

by Steve Reinke

Brussels: Argos Arts, 2000

Pamphlet produced in conjunction with the group exhibition "Attack [retreat]", curated by Canadian artist Steve Reinke, and which brought together the work of five young Canadian and American artists. The exhibition was on view from February 5 to 19, 2000 at argos gallery in Brussels, Belgium. The four video installations by these artists were selected on the base of their common goal: to launch an attack against our longing for nostalgia. According to Reinke nostalgia is one of the most effective means mass media has of manipulating our feelings and interpolating us into our social fabric as consumers. "Our only possible means of escape from these insidious forces, is to temper the nostalgia. But with what? Nostalgia can withstand all forces, break through all other tropes to exert its little tug at our heart strings and remind us that even such a place as ’home’ does not exist. Where no attack is possible, one may always retreat." [text taken from argos gallery webpage]. The pamphlet folds out to become a poster for the event on one side, and features an essay by the curator Steve Reinke on the other.

ITEM 2000.159 – available for viewing in the Research Centre

Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited

Jubal Brown

Emily Vey Duke

Cooper Battersby

Carry Kim

Eddo Stern