the absolute outside, is a term coined by QuentinMeillassoux to describe a space that exists beyond the limits of our thoughts, of being genuinely elsewhere. He argues that thought ‘can never get outside itself to encounter the world as it really is’. All we can ever know is ‘how the world is for us, not how it is in itself.’

The potential to entertain this speculative exteriority can be glimpsed in the selected work of the exhibiting artists; though their practices each have distinct concerns, all have strayed onto this speculative territory.

In this spirit of being genuinely elsewhere, there is the hope that this exhibition can offerthe viewer a moment of self-doubt; to see the viewer ask a simple question; where should-I-stand-in-here?

This exhibition brings together five artists from Berlin and the UK:
Marie von Heyl, TC McCormack, Matthew Noel Tod, Richard Sides & Oliver Zwink.

You can find a review of the show by This is tomorrow here.

Marie van Heyl (b.1981 in Stuttgart, Germany).Marie’s work draws from the poetic friction and productive misunderstandings that emerge when different models of reality collide, overlap or not quite fit together. Of particular relevance are objects that serve as mediators between different belief systems or carriers of sentimental value, such as cult objects, fetishes, heirlooms and souvenirs.

TC McCormack (b.1970 in Belfast, N.Ireland) His multidisciplinary practice is a creative and discursive site, considering a constellation of preoccupations; from the shifting identity of materiality, the absence of human agency, to the phenomenon of resistance space. His work takes a range of outcomes, often combining: film, assemblage, drawing, events, curation and publications.

Richard Sides (b.1985, Rotherham, UK)Sides’ work uses a variety of media to explore notions of presence, temporality, complexity, conflict and the possible idea of ‘an ontology of communication’. His multifaceted output in video, installation, sound, performance and collage blurs seamlessly allowing characters and abstract notions of consciousness to emerge from the complexsocial composite environments he creates in his work.

Matthew Noel-Tod (b.1978 in Stoke-on-Trent, UK). His films re-frame narrative cinema in relation to experimental moving image, conceptual art, philosophy and literature. Having exhibited internationally since 1999, Noel-Tod has explored and refined his ability to create multi-expressional videos that display a range of aesthetics and explore the interplay between words and the moving image.

Oliver Zwink (b.1967 in Heidenheim/Brenz, Germany) His recent series of digital prints are carefully arranged expanded surfaces; that produce an altered sense of place. His seamless images offer a release, in removing our collective clutter, indeed they deny us language (visual triggers to irrational wants) to leave you looking at the world in itself.

‘the absolute outside’ quoted from the book ‘After Finitude’ (Bloomsbury 2010) Quentin Meillassoux