How To Do Things With Words:
An Exhibition of Radical Speech Acts

October 30–November 9, 2010

Opening Reception:
November 1, 2010, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries
66 5th Avenue at 13th Street
The Sheila C. Johnson Design Center
Parsons The New School for Design

The Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons The New School for Design presents How To Do Things With Words, an exhibition of radical speech acts organized by Melanie Crean.

The exhibition presents the work of fifteen artists and collectives who explore the relationship between language, power, media and action through gallery works, talks and performances. The exhibition takes its name from the title of a groundbreaking treatise by British philosopher J.L. Austin, who eloquently presented the concept of “speech acts.” He disavowed the notion of language as something passive that simply outlines reality, but rather described it as a set of practices that can be used to affect and create realities. Austin’s premise is that speaking itself contains the power of doing.

Participating artists include: Wafaa Bilal; Mary Walling Blackburn; Melanie Crean; Azin Feizabadi, Ida Momennejad and Kaya Behkalam; Andrea Geyer and Sharon Hayes; Yael Kanarek; Carlos Motta; Huong Ngo and Hong-An Truong, Martha Rosler; The Iraqi/U.S. Cross Wire Collective; Mark Tribe; and The Yes Men.

For more information about art works and a schedule of events please see www.newschool.edu/sjdc under exhibitions.