24-hour broadcast starts this evening at 5pm PST / 7pm CST / 2am CET
December 4–5, 2020
RenBen: Wildcard is a benefit fundraiser that plays an essential role in supporting the Renaissance Society. In a year that has physically separated our community, it takes the form of an artist-centered 24-hour broadcast and a virtual launch party for Renaissance TV, a new online space for the Ren to continue showcasing artists and their projects.
Renaissance TV is an experiment, an additional exhibition space, and a tentative exploration of the potential for the internet to be a generative platform divorced from vertical hierarchies and classical institutional agendas. Conceptualized by Myriam Ben Salah with Karsten Lund and Michael Harrison, and inspired by the lo-fi aesthetic and assorted programming of television broadcasting, Renaissance TV hosts artist projects—newly produced and existing—such as films, animations, performances, sound pieces, mixtapes, and more. The Renaissance TV website is supported by Gucci and designed by Special—Offer Inc. (LA & NYC).
On December 4 and 5, the platform launches with IMAGE. SOUND. TEXT., a 24-hour program named after the three components that Carolyn Lazard combines and calls out in their video A Recipe for Disaster. These elements weave a thematic thread throughout the program, recurring as the selected artworks question the idea of image, sound, and text as transparent—or accurate— mediums, and consider their material conditions and the status of what’s on air. As Renaissance TV hijacks television’s visual template of instant visibility, it also weighs how the internet and mobile devices are changing ways of watching and spreading the means to make and deliver “programming” in the first place. Whether it offers a passive flow of moving images or an unmapped landscape of encounters, the screen can be an active vehicle for imagination and reflexive viewership.
Participating artists include:
Lawrence Abu Hamdan as DJ Business Class / Reza Abdoh presented by Bidoun / Farah Al Qasimi / Morgan Bassichis / Neil Beloufa / Meriem Bennani / Talia Chetrit / David Claerbout / Phil Collins / Tony Cokes / Crystallmess / Aria Dean / Mati Diop / Cécile B. Evans / Juliana Halpert / Khalil Joseph / Oliver Laric / Carolyn Lazard / Manon Lutanie / Gabriel Madan / Tala Madani / Shahryar Nashat / OKAY KAYA / Precious Okoyomon / Torbjørn Rødland / Diane Severin Nguyen / Liv Schulman / A.L. Steiner / Martine Syms / Nora Turato / Mona Varichon / Andrew Norman Wilson
Tune in over the next 24 hours at tv.renaissancesociety.org starting tonight, Friday, December 4 at 7pm CST. The program is free to watch.
On the occasion of the launch of Renaissance TV, we are excited to offer Wildcard Editions: prints created by many of the inaugural Renaissance TV artists. Each piece is 8.5 x 11 inches, in unsigned, open editions. These special editions will only be available during this virtual launch event.
