Survey of Works by Krzysztof Wodiczko and New Commissions by Lucy Beech, and Yin-Ju Chen at FACT for Liverpool Biennial 2016

FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) and Liverpool Biennial are proud to present artworks by Krzysztof Wodiczko, Lucy Beech, and Yin-Ju Chen as part of Liverpool Biennial 2016. Showcased at FACT from 9 July until 16 October 2016, Wodiczko's installations, instruments and vehicles explore themes of migration and displacement, while Beech considers health anxiety and connectivity in her new film, Pharmakon, co-commissioned by Liverpool Biennial and FACT. Yin-Ju Chen's presents Extrastellar Evaluation, a project which continues her research into dystopia and art history.

This year, the citywide exhibition is organised as a story narrated in several episodes, unfolding through a series of fictional worlds. The show at FACT is part of the Flashback episode and the Software episode.

The Flashback episode at FACT features a selection of works spanning the 50 year career of Krzysztof Wodiczko, who is known for creating artworks to empower marginalised communities including immigrants, veterans and the homeless, giving light to societal injustices. Wodiczko defines 'flashback' as the sudden re-emergence of memories, characterised by psychological conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Wodiczko's 2011 installation Guests, originally commissioned for the 53rd Venice Biennale, forms a central part of the exhibition, reflecting, in this new context, on the current migratory crisis and debates around forced migration. This large scale installation creates the illusion of windows, through which the viewer overhears conversations between migrants, exchanging remarks about their situation and problems, seemingly outside the gallery space. Here, Wodiczko plays with cultural displacement, and the social invisibility of this often marginalised group.

Examples of Wodiczko's continuing work with military veterans is showcased, including the prototype device Veteran Helmet (2015), created to aid veterans to share their experiences with civilians. Documentation of The War Veteran Vehicle (2009), originally commissioned by FACT, is also exhibited. For this project, an active military vehicle, fitted with a video projector and PA system, was used to create the appearance of words being fired onto the surface of public buildings and monuments. The legacy of the project continues to be evidenced in FACT's award-winning Veterans in Practice programme, which creates opportunities for local ex-servicemen and women to collaborate with artists, designers and technologists to produce creative projects.

Other works presented at FACT include the Homeless Vehicle Project (1988-89), where Wodiczko worked with members of the homeless community in New York to create tools to aid their survival and communication. Another vehicle on display, Podium (1977-1979), is a platform for speaking, propelled forward by the strength and passion of the orator.

The works by Krzysztof Wodiczko included in Liverpool Biennial 2016 are supported by Culture.pl, and the Polish Institute London.

Lucy Beech's new film, Pharmakon, co-commissioned by Liverpool Biennial and FACT, is presented at FACT as part of the Software episode, which points towards an understanding of technology stretching beyond its strictly functional use. Instead, it highlights technology's ability to allow us into imaginative worlds.

Beech's video and performance works often consider how emotions are instrumentalised in a capitalist context, especially exploring female group dynamics and public intimacy. Usually focused on female group dynamics, her practice uses choreography and disrupted narrative structure to explore public intimacy and competitive vulnerability. Her new film emerges from her research into the uncommon, unexplained skin disorder Morgellons disease, which is characterised by crawling sensations on and under the skin. The condition emerged concurrently with the Internet, and the film problematises how connectivity in this context can be both destructive and generative. Involving women in all aspects of her new commission, Beech's new film explores experiences of health anxiety, and the management of abnormalities.

Beech's film is supported by the Wellcome Trust, and is shot and produced in Liverpool, utilising local sites where diverse communities intersect, such as Sefton Palm House and Liverpool ONE. The screenplay is built out of the artist's research into the existing communities that use these spaces, along with scientific research and research from networking events.

In the foyer, Yin-Ju Chen's Extrastellar Evaluations, presented at FACT and at Cains Brewery, brings together evidence of Lemurian presence on earth. The land of Lemuria sank into the ocean thousands of years ago, but its natives have been living invisibly amongst us ever since. In the 1960s, some of them re-emerged using the identities of conceptual artists, and Extrastellar Evaluations considers the impact of this defining era on humans and Lemurians alike. Yin-Ju Chen's primary medium is video, but her works also include photographs, installations and drawings.

Yin-Ju Chen's work is co-commissioned by Liverpool Biennial and The Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA), and supported by the Ministry of Culture Taiwan, in association with Kadist.

The Liverpool Biennial 2016 film programme, Another Version of Events, is also showing at FACT, curated by ICA Associate Curator of Artists' Film and Moving Image, Steven Cairns, and co-produced by FACT, the ICA, Liverpool Biennial and Picturehouse. A selection of films will be screened every Thursday, inspired by sci-fi, mockumentary, pseudo-documentary, mockbuster and ethnofiction. Several of the films are selected and introduced by Biennial artists, whilst elsewhere in the programme, thematic screenings address distinct subjects drawn from the artists' practice: choreography, theatre, design, political drama, sound and geography.

Highlights include a special screening event around Paris is Burning (dir. Jennie Livingston, 1990), as well as Sans Soleil (dir. Chris Marker, 1983), Freak Orlando (dir. Ulrike Ottinger, 1981), and Seduction of a Cyborg (dir. Lyn Hershman Leeson, 1994). For more information and to book tickets, visit fact.co.uk.

Coinciding with the opening of Liverpool Biennial 2016, the Minecraft Infinity Project launches at FACT, inviting players to collaborate with Minecrafters the world over to remake artworks exhibited at this year's Liverpool Biennial into the largest virtual sculpture ever made. On Saturday 9 July, visitors of all ages are welcome to attend a free presentation and drop-in session at FACT. Over the two following weeks, players can enter the map, hosted on an online multiplayer server, to sculpt using specially created tools that take inspiration from the exhibition, and watch as a humongous virtual co-creation emerges. The project will be available online 9 - 24 July. More information, and instructions on how to get involved can be found on the FACT website.

Minecraft Infinity Project is commissioned by Liverpool Biennial in partnership with FACT; produced by Tony Guillan and created by Adam Clarke in collaboration with map maker Dragnoz.

Liverpool Biennial 2016, a free festival of newly commissioned contemporary art from around the world, takes place across the city's galleries, unused buildings, public spaces and online from 9 July until 16 October. Further works from the Software and Flashback episodes, thematically linked to the exhibition at FACT, can be seen in venues including Open Eye Gallery, Bluecoat and the Oratory.

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