• Curatorial

The Seven Circuits of a Pearl Installation Views

The Seven Circuits of a Pearl

April- May 2023, Five Walls Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

May- September 2024, Bangkok Art and Culture Center, Bangkok, Thailand

Text by Antonio Cataldo, Director of Fotogaleriet, Oslo, Norway

”The disaster ruins everything, yet it leaves everything intact”. That’s what scares me. I write when I read, and I take notes paraphrasing Maurice Blanchot in a text that a few years back had a significant influence on me as I reconnected to studies in contemporary art and as art’s relation to disaster seems to have been quintessential to rethink fractures and collective traumas. There appears to be no epoch as filled with disaster as contemporaneity, though, and where the idea of the disaster seems unsurpassable. While we look at History and historical fractures, the disaster appeared as the world’s shift, a revolution that would turn down knowledge and life. Our contemporaneity, though, is marked by a continuous internal and external living disaster where nothing changes. A new disaster soon obfuscates even the revolutions that seemed to create new worlds. Disasters are the common denominator from the outside world to the inside world.

 

When I look at the images of Ioanna, I cannot but think that every search will bring a new idea of the darkness we all carry because it is so part of our era. The words of Maurice Blanchot resonate deeply, capturing the essence of a world teetering on the edge of chaos. In contemporary art, where the interplay between creation and destruction is central, Blanchot’s insights guide the darkness of modernity, an ever-present specter casting a shadow over every facet of life. Unlike epochs past, where disasters were seen as moments of profound upheaval and transformation, our contemporaneity is marked by a relentless onslaught of calamities. It’s as if the very fabric of existence is fraying at the seams yet somehow remaining intact, leaving a sense of disquiet and unease.

The breadth and depth of our conversations with Ioanna encompass time and space, from the mundane to the sublime, from the earthly to the celestial, each topic revealing layers of significance of the weirdness of humanity. We have spoken about everything, from long overseas trips, the 1950s, the Middle Ages, geographical labeling of the East and the West for the sake of navigation and capital accumulation, which gender is in command in the escapades of life, how much genders determine the idea of freedom, double life, accepted double standards, shame, pride or different kind of allegations, and who will be on the right side of History—secrets and secret life, and who can afford to live them. We also spoke about what we inherit, willingly or unwillingly, from life itself. Context, geographical, cultural, religious, and the possible prescriptions and barriers. Loneliness. The sea. Adventures. Crossing what is known. Forced migration. Desire.

The role models of morality are given, as well as what is considered immoral at different times and why. We also spoke about craters, the moon, and other planets. And we spoke about pearls a lot. Who is wearing pearls and why? How do they form? Why are they so desired and desirable? We spoke about wild and manufactured pearls as she wandered deserted, nocturnal landscapes. And the masculine obsession with pearls as a deferred object of desire in romantic love. We talked about betrayal and polarised definitions of good and evil. In delving into the historical and cultural nuances of different epochs, one explores the intricacies of power dynamics, gender roles, societal norms, navigation, commerce, and colonialism, shedding light on the enduring legacies of imperialism and exploitation. Gender becomes a focal point for examining notions of freedom, double standards, and the complexities of identity.

Through conversations about gender’s influence on personal agency and societal expectations, you grapple with the tension between authenticity and conformity, challenging conventional notions of morality and righteousness. The exploration of secrets and hidden lives delves into the complexities of human nature, unveiling the myriad ways in which individuals navigate the tensions between public perception and private truth. Themes of inheritance, both tangible and intangible, highlight the interconnectedness of past and present, shaping our identities and worldviews in profound ways. Amidst these weighty discussions, the sea emerges as a metaphor for the unknown, a realm of mystery and possibility that beckons us to explore beyond the confines of the familiar. Forced migration becomes a poignant reminder of the human cost of displacement, while desire and adventure speak to our innate yearning for connection and discovery.

Pearls emerge as a symbol of desire and longing, embodying the elusive nature of the representation of love. Whether wild or manufactured, pearls serve as a tangible, material reminder of ghosts, spirits, betrayal, and moral ambiguity. From the minutia of a pearl found in a picture, Ioanna retraces an entire story of extractivist trade, which from the 18th and 19th centuries continues to this day, and which brought her in search of her father’s navigation, not for the sake of capital accumulation but for the sake of understanding and disenfranchising capital itself. How does capital build, and for which reason? How does romantic love connect to capital and capital exploitation? Which emotions are connected to capital?

 

The interplay between capital, exploitation, and the human experience is a quest to understand the origins of the pearl that leads her down a path that transcends mere economic transactions, delving into the deeper complexities of power dynamics and personal identity. As she traces the story of extractivist trade, Ioanna confronts capitalism, where the pursuit of profit comes at the expense of human lives and environmental destruction. Through her investigation, she uncovers capital resources constructed through the marginalization of communities, perpetuating cycles of inequality and injustice. But Ioanna’s journey is not just about uncovering past injustices; it is also about reclaiming agency and rewriting narratives of resistance.

By delving into her father’s navigation, she seeks to understand how capital accumulates and how it can be dismantled. Her quest is driven not by a desire for a status quo but by a profound commitment to challenging the state of things. In examining the relationship between romantic love and capital, Ioanna confronts how economic forces can shape and constrain intimate relationships. Love, often idealized as a pure and transcendent emotion, is revealed to be entangled with notions of power, status, and material wealth. The feelings connected to capital are manifold, ranging from desire and ambition to fear and despair. Capitalism thrives on cultivating desire, fueling a never-ending cycle of consumption and accumulation. Yet, it also breeds insecurity, as individuals are pitted against a relentless quest for solidifying capital itself.

Voyages, romantic love, and myth form part of an intersecting and unquestioned discovery that most commonly has been connected with grand narrations and grand tours, which have not only been conducted by Poets, Writers, and Artists but also by people embarking on Adventours for the sake of Capital or the sake of erotic gestures.If I had to read Ioanna’s work, I would start with the theory that Ursula K. Le Guin sketched in The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction. It would be an invitation to restart writing History by deleting History and writing the small stories, the stories that do not have the glorious expected appeal of the grand imperial conquest, presupposing an evil world, an invincible enemy or unreachable forces, and therefore justifying and implying violence as an inevitable force.

Everyday stories, small stories, on the surface irrelevant to the eyes of the Conquer, create powerful storytelling of survival to clean ourselves from the toxic grandiosity that is structuring our shared Modern subconscious and delineating how we see, witness, and use the World. Ioanna critiques the toxic grandiosity that pervades modern consciousness by exploring these themes. By elevating these ordinary stories and highlighting struggles for survival and meaning, she confronts the violence and exploitation that underpins so much of our history.

Ultimately, Ioanna’s work is a powerful reminder of the importance of storytelling. She invites us to imagine a different kind of world—one where small stories overturn grand narratives and where the pursuit of justice and equality takes precedence over the pursuit of conquest and domination.