Beyond religion’s quest to “leave behind,” beyond technologies emphasis on “the cloud,” beyond laws constructed to produce institutions incarnate, beyond a culture obsessed with the image of an image—one asks, “where did I leave my body and who has it?” And I would like to ask, “what kinds of artworks can be made without a body?—And do we really want to find out.”

Propositions is a public forum that explores ideas in development. Each two-day seminar introduces a topic of current investigation in an invited speaker’s own artistic or intellectual practice. Over the course of a seminar session, these developing ideas are responded to, researched, and discussed to propel them forward in unique ways.
The structure of Propositions is as follows:
Friday, 7 p.m. – Initial proposition and lecture
Saturday, 3 p.m. – Shimabuku lecture followed by discussion with audience

Dave McKenzie received a BFA in printmaking from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and has also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine. His most recent exhibitions include: “Dave McKenzie,” Aspen Art Museum (2010); “30 Seconds Off an Inch,” The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York (2009); “On Premises,” Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects (2009); “Black is, Black Ain’t,” The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago (2008), and “Museum as Hub: Six Degrees,” New Museum, New York (2008). He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

Shimabuku was born in Kobe, Japan in 1969. Since 2004, he has lived in Berlin. His performance and installation work proposes new ways of life and new methods of communication. Shimabuku’s work has been exhibited internationally at the São Paulo Biennial (2006), Venice Biennale (2003), group exhibition at Pompidou Center in Paris, and the Hayward gallery in London.