I hear a phrase, I remember a view, I immerse myself, I read a book, I sense a vibe, I throw a rock, I make a move …
Could it be that the phrase, scene, myself, the book, vibe, rock, and move are looking back – feeling kind of perplexed and empathetic towards this entity that can lose, produce, and take so much, divides itself, can be less or more, or many and is still one – is damned to be one, despite all knowledge, all emotion, all desire to overcome itself, all longing for the other.
It’s uncanny when you think about it. That feeling of being a stranger to yourself.
Like when you wake up at night at a weird angle and hour, horrified because someone is touching your face. Finding out this someone is you, or less you, but your own arm that went numb. And for a brief moment you think there is someone lying next to you. Because the way we work is that a limb, disconnected from your body, only makes sense when it belongs to someone else.
Identifying one thing means saying it is different from another.
Could it be the longing for the other in yourself that institutes and constantly re-institutes an integrity, defying all paradoxes, relying on the ultimate paradox, which is that one can be only one because it’s more and less than one.
The contributions gathered here share a suspicion or discomfort toward a singular, wholesome understanding of identity. Rather, they negotiate a multiplicity of perspectives within; perspectives that actualize, are expressive, and become felt in minimal differences. The familiar turning unfamiliar. Hence, the image of identical twins, the figure of the double, as well as the expectations raised by the promise of self-sameness shall serve as both a title reference and metaphorical filters.
Gemini is the title of this issue and an integral part of an exhibition project that goes by the same name. The conversations, close readings, videos, sound sketches, drawings and stories open a diverse spectrum of reflection on identification processes beyond the exhibition space. They come together in a collaborative effort that forms the basis and conceptual remit of the two shows and several events yet to come.
For more info on the exhibitions and events, please click here.