EXHIBITION
Isotopia Pacifica, Stéfane Perraud
Collaboration with Aram Kebabdjian
November 26, 2017 – February 9, 2018
The Art Gallery at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Aloha and Welcome to Isotopia!, by Noe Tanigawa, Hawaii Public Radio
Special events:
All events are free and open to the public.
Sunday, November 26
2:00–3:00 p.m., Gallery walk-through with Stéfane Perraud
3:00–5:00 p.m., Opening reception with music by Gunner Nagata & Billy Sage V
Tuesday, November 28
3:00–4:00 p.m., Gallery walk-through with Stéfane Perraud
Thursday, November 30
4:30–6:30 p.m., Public lecture by Stéfane Perraud, Art Building, Room 101
A Visual Poetry on the Most Dangerous Element, 49
Perraud discusses his collaboration with Aram Kebabdjian on Isotopia Pacifica and focuses on an isotope created during the World War II—element 49, also known as plutonium 239.
The Art Gallery at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM) presents a contemporary art exhibition that highlights the collaboration of French artist Stéfane Perraud and writer Aram Kebabdjian and their recent work in the Pacific islands.
Isotopia is a fictional volcanic island invented by trans-media artist Stéfane Perraud and writer/collaborator Aram Kebabdjian. They describe an island with a military base somewhere between the 62nd and 63rd parallels—far from the normal sea routes—and populated by a few scientists, inhabitants, and a few visionaries. Perraud and Kebabdjian first explored this mirage in 2014 during an exhibition in La Malterie, in Lille, France. At the Galerie de Roussan, Paris, 2015, they hunted for isotopes on Isotopia.
In November 2017, the duo intends to investigate the possible links between Isotopia and the Hawaiian Islands. Perraud and Kebabdjian employ literary and sculptural machines that depict the immense power of the isotope and the legacy of the development of modern nuclear energy. Faux artifacts of the Cold War tests and secret bases in the Pacific are presented as clues to nefarious military operations—lost fleets of secret submarines, errant nuclear missiles, and a mega-reactor producing the un-seeable phenomenon of Blue Gorgon.
Artist info, statement, & images
Sponsors:
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Department of Art + Art History and College of Arts + Humanities; Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, through appropriations from the Legislature of the State of Hawai‘i or grants from the National Endowment for the Arts;Student Activity & Program Fee Board, UHM; Student Athletic Fee Committee, UHM; SEED IDEAS, UHM; and supported by Waikiki Parc Hotel – Hospitality Sponsor for the Arts at UH Mānoa; and anonymous donors.
Address, Hours, + Admission:
University of Hawai‘i Art Gallery
2535 McCarthy Mall, Honolulu (UH Mānoa campus)
Mon. – Fri. 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.; Sun. 12:00 – 4:00 p.m.
By appointment: Dec. 17, 2017 – Jan. 8, 2018. Contact: Rod Bengston, gallery director
Closed: Saturdays; Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23; non-instructional day, Nov. 24; Christmas Eve, Dec. 24; Christmas Day, Dec. 25; New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31; New Year’s Day, Jan. 1; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Jan. 15.
Free admission. Donations are appreciated.
Parking fees may apply.
Image:
Stéfane Perraud
Bleu Gorgone #02, 2016
Courtesy of the artist.