WIVA seminar series, April 8th

Listening to things

South African artist, James Webb, will present an overview of his ongoing project, A series of personal questions. This is a contemporary art installation where the artist literally poses questions to objects in the style of a formal interview. Interview subjects have included the River Rhine, 5 litres of Nigerian crude oil, a Roman coin from 70CE, and - forming the crux of this seminar - a Viking-age sword in the collection of Historiska Museet.

Inspired by themes of mediumship and psychology, as well as a guiding sense of curiosity, the artwork proposes that each object is more than the sum of its parts and what it represents, and that each object has had its own unique set of experiences. In Webb’s work, the specific object is not physically altered, and is touched only by a sound wave. The installation creates an encounter with the interview subject; not wanting to impose meaning, but rather open up possibilities by asking questions.

This seminar is an opportunity to consider artistic approaches to objects and to share ideas around the narration of history.

The work of James Webb has been the subject of solo exhibitions at, amongst others, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Sweden, 2024; the Art Institute of Chicago, USA, 2018; Yorkshire Sculpture Park, United Kingdom, 2016. Major group exhibitions include the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale (2023), 8th and 16th Biennale d’Art Contemporain de Lyon (2007 & 2022), 13th Biennial of Dakar (2018), 13th Biennial of Sharjah (2017), 12th Bienal de la Habana (2015), and the 55th Biennale di Venezia (2013).

Day: April 8th

Place: Uppsala Eng/2-2033

Time: 13:15-15:00

Lecturer: James Webb